The purpose of a shinobi
by Haan
Summary: Same old, Naruto ends up at youkai high. Things haven't been going his way in Konoha, could perhaps a change of scenery change his luck? Having to hide his nature and endure the pressure of a seductive servant, he will need all the luck he can get...
1. Welcome to Yokai High

Disclaimer: The Kyuubi has been asked to deliver this message, but it declined and tried to disembowel me. This is a good clue to the fact that I do not own neither Naruto nor Rosario+Vampire.

Well, there were a few positive voices on this so I figure I'll give it a go. The whole tragedy thing is so-so in my mind, it may or may not stay. I am going to make life less than perfect for various characters however. Hope it works for you.

Comments may be found at the end, if I wrote any. Some changes made after helpful pointing out by Fuyuriku, Kudos.

* * *

**Welcome to Yokai High**

Naruto was standing outside the gates of Konoha, the shoulder strap of a large bag across his chest and a smaller one in his left hand. Standing beside him was Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya. It was still early enough to be late for some of the celebrants stumbling home, or someone else's home. Naruto didn't really care about that, he was used to irregular days and not sleeping enough. Especially the last few weeks.

"Ne, Ero-sennin, where's the transport?" He asked, keeping his voice low.

The spymaster didn't move while answering, his eyes focused on the road stretching away from Konoha." Just be patient. It will be here."

Naruto grunted in response, his face betraying little of his thoughts. To tell the truth, he was much too tired to think or feel very much, the turmoil of the latest events having wrung even him dry, and if it wasn't for the fact that he kept being disturbed, he'd probably been sleeping for the last two days or so.

A little while later, as the first rays of the sun broke through to signal the start of a new day, a noise was heard from down the road. Then a weird contraption was coming up the road towards them. Naruto was unsure of what to think. It was big, yellow, and had what he assumed were wheels, just not in a material he could recognize. The rest of the thing that Jiraiya referred to as a "bus" seemed to consist of metal and windows, its interior hollow as far as he could see.

"When you think you've seen it all." Tsunade muttered, obviously as surprised as Naruto was at the strange piece of machinery.

"I guess this is it." Shizune said, before stepping up to Naruto and giving him a hug." Take care now, and make some friends. You deserve better than you have been getting here."

"Thanks Shizune-chan."

"I'll be expecting you to work hard over there, gaki. Akatsuki will be tough enough to crack without you getting soft. And stay safe. If you manage to die I'll find you, revive you and kill you myself. Understood?"

"Yeah, love you too oba-chan." Was Naruto's reply, as he hugged the current Hokage.

"Well use the toads to send messages and such, although it won't happen often. Try to get some good photos for my resear-"Jiraiya was interrupted by Tsunade's fist crashing down on the top of his head." Err, be good."

"Damn it pervert, can you please not get killed by oba-chan while I'm gone?" Naruto hugged his latest sensei, and then took a few steps backwards. A few more words were exchanged as their eyes found each other, feelings that couldn't bear saying shown in the mirror of their souls. Then the yellow monstrosity had arrived, and the door opened accompanied by a hiss of hydraulics.

"Well, I guess I'll hear from you soon then. Oh, and Jiraiya has drilled a hole in the fence at the onsen, might wanna do something about that. Bye." Naruto quickly turned around and stepped through the door, nodded at the weird man dressed in a strange uniform and went to find a seat. As he settled down and the bus started to move, the door having closed almost immediately, he could see Tsunade and Shizune waving at him, while Jiraiya lay knocked out on the ground. He managed a smile and waved back, wondering if he'd ever see them again.

As the bus began moving in earnest he sat back, looked out the window and thought about the last few, insane weeks.

* * *

"_Well dobe, I think I'm going to show you just how large the difference between us really is." With that, Sasuke stared him in the eye, and suddenly he was standing outside the Kyuubi's cage. He felt disorientated, never having been forced to this place before. Then Sasuke was standing next to him._

"_He, what's this? A seal huh? You've been keeping things from us, haven't you dead-last?" Sasuke stepped closer to the bars, Naruto unable to move or even talk. He couldn't warn Sasuke away from the gates, or the claws that should be shooting forth any second now. Yet nothing happened._

_Now Sasuke was within arm's reach of the seal, yet the Kyuubi did nothing."I wonder what would happen if I opened this, maybe you would be a bit more of a challenge, hum?"The Uchiha looked at him over his shoulder and smirked."You really shouldn't be keeping things from your team mates you know, although I always did wonder at how quickly you gained power, this thing explains it. This seal must give you even greater power than my own, yet most of it is held back, am I right? Of course I am. I am the genius of us two after all." Thankfully Naruto couldn't say exactly what he was thinking at that comment, as it might have shocked the young prodigy to hear language that foul._

_Sasuke stared at him for a few moments, that annoying smirk never leaving his face."Well, I'm tired of you following me everywhere. Let's see if you become worthy of fighting me with all your power released." And then, much like removing a band aid, he pulled the seal from the gate._

_And then all hell, literally, broke loose._

_

* * *

_Naruto jumped a bit, dragging his mind off the unpleasant memories. The bus seemed to be surrounded by a strange energy, blacks and purples swirling around it. He stared at the strange phenomenon, unsure as to just what he thought about it. On instinct, he pushed carefully with his newfound senses, hitting a strong shield just outside the bus. There was a field of sorts surrounding the metal contraption, most likely keeping the vortex of power from ripping it and its passengers apart.

"Yo kid, you better not mess with that thing." The eerie man who seemed to operate the bus called back to him, before looking back over his shoulder and grinning evilly at him."Something bad might happen if you do."

Naruto quickly withdrew his senses to where they belonged. Then the bus was hurtling down blackness, although the light far up front suggested that they were heading down a tunnel. He absently felt a brief burst of satisfaction, as the light kept growing, eventually illuminating the walls of the tunnel they were indeed travelling through.

And then they were through, and Naruto's eyes had to adapt to the change of brightness. This wasn't much of a difference. The sun seemed to be rather bleak and the sky was overcast. It actually looked like a storm could break at any minute. The bus slowed down, stopping next to a weird looking sign, the kanji for yokai written on it. He grabbed his bags and walked up to the front.

"End of the line sonny, I'd warn you that this place is scaaarry, but I guess you don't need it. Good luck and try not to die. Now off you go." With that, the door opened with a hiss, and he got off after a nod to the driver.

He looked around. In the distance he could see some buildings, which he presumed was the school. They looked run down, and weren't build in a style he recognized. The school was built up near a tall cliff, which fell away into what he believed to be an ocean. To his dismay, he noticed that most of the terrain was made up of sterile rock, and the few trees he could see were small and possibly dead, no leaves on any of those he could see. For some reason there were also some skulls strewn around. They didn't look human, but most didn't resemble any animal skulls he'd seen either. He could handle that.

The ocean was a different matter. He'd never seen water the color of recently spilled blood. He stared at it for a while. When it didn't seem to behave differently from normal water, he took a step forward, only to have lightning dance across the sky, a peal of thunder ripping apart the silence just afterwards.

Okay, now he was getting just a bit freaked out. Then he felt a presence behind him. Whipping out a kunai he turned around, only to come face to face with a man wearing white robes. He wasn't certain, because he hadn't really examined the driver that closely, but this man sort of looked the same. Especially the eyes.

"Ah, you must be Naruto-kun. Please, there is no need for weapons. I am the headmaster of this school. Welcome." The man's voice was just as eerie as the rest of him, and also reminded him of the bus driver.

"You're good, I didn't feel you approaching." Naruto replied, before returning the kunai to its hiding place.

"Ah, the result of a wasted youth and a hostile world. I'm glad that you're already dressed in the school uniform, but I think that headband has to go. You're supposed to hide what species you are here. As you have some powers, and a bonded daemon to boot, I think you'd be safe from any school police inquiries, but the rules are, after all, the rules." The man smiled, a bit too wide for comfort, and then gestured towards the buildings."Shall we go? I'll show you to your room so you can leave your luggage, and then I'll escort you to your first lesson. After that, you will be mostly on your own. Surviving your education is part of the curriculum, so I suggest you find some allies fast."

At Naruto's nod, they set off. The headmaster told him how this school for monsters worked, some of the rules that applied and a bit about how the world of monsters functioned in general. While they walked, Naruto routinely scanned his surroundings. There was a little bit of green here and there, but mostly the plant life seemed dead. As they drew nearer to the school, he noticed that there were also stones of various designs thrust into the ground like out of place teeth, not one of them standing up straight. "What are those?"

"Those are headstones, placed to mark the site of a grave. We mostly keep them around for their aesthetical value." The reply made Naruto swallow. He'd expected the place to be different, but the idea that monsters would be, well, monstrous, hadn't really sunk in just yet.

'_Great, a school full of Gaaras and Zabuzas. If I ever get my hands on Jiraiya, I'll make him regret this._'

After that, neither said anything until they entered the dorm building. "I understand that you have only recently been bonded to your daemon, and that the process was accidental. Therefore, I will have a specialist give you some tutoring this week in the evening in addition to the training you will recieve in your special lessons time. You will also be provided with some literature on the subject. Ah, here is your room." He took out a key, unlocked the door, and then handed it over to Naruto. "Just put the bags inside for now."

After dumping his stuff in a room as cozy as his old apartment, just smaller, they left the rundown looking building and headed towards the school. He was a bit surprised at the condition of his dorm. On the outside it looked barely worthy of habitation, but the inside had actually been quite nice. The headmaster decided to interrupt his thoughts at this point."Here, take this bracelet. I want you to wear it at all times. It will limit the power of your daemon, and in extension, the possibility of detecting it and you. Try it on."Naruto did as requested."Yes, very good, I cannot detect anything. I think you will have to wear it around your neck however, it is too big to have hanging from your arm. I'll write out a permission slip so you won't need to wear a tie. Now, the important part of that thing is the Rosario hanging at the end. If you remove it from the chain, the effect is reduced, and the further away it is, the less the effect will be. However, as you are able to use your own abilities, I hope that it will not be necessary."

"What about manifestation?"

"That won't be a problem, although your daemon won't have much in the way of strength or abilities, unless you remove the Rosario. The daemon is after all bonded directly to you."

By now they had reached the school, and Naruto decided that questions could wait until later. He did as he had been trained, memorizing the layout of the main building, noting possible escape routes and the like. Tsunade had made it abundantly clear that, although she expected him home in one piece, these three years of weirdness were to be considered a mission. Which possibly included written reports, something he detested and rated as slightly less enjoyable than scrubbing lavatories.

Soon they had reached their destination, and the headmaster turned to him just outside the door. "Now then, this will be your classroom for the rest of the year. Remember that I will be willing to answer your questions, but also that I am a busy man. I expect you to only come to me in an emergency. I think that will be all for now, go in and good luck." Then the strange man turned around and walked away.

Naruto looked at the door, took a breath and knocked. When a voice from inside answered, he pulled the door to the side and entered.

"Ah, welcome! Everybody, this is a transfer student who will be with us for the rest of the year. Please introduce yourself." The teacher speaking was a ditzy looking woman, probably around thirty years old and with a hairdo that made her look like a cat. The tail moving back and forth only enhanced the image.

"Yes sensei." He answered, walking into the classroom and turning towards the class."I am Uzumaki Naruto. It is a pleasure to meet you all." A few seconds passed, as he felt scrutinizing looks pass over him, judging and measuring. He turned to his teacher."Will that be all?" He got the sense that everyone was suddenly staring even harder, as if he was something they couldn't really classify. The he realized that he was sounding a bit like Gaara on a bad day, and decided to try and change his attitude a bit. Firing off his usual carefree grin, he tacked on an additional sentence. "Sorry, I think I'm more nervous than I thought."

"That's quite alright Naruto-kun. You can take the seat at the back. Tsukune, please take Naruto-kun for a walk around the school after this lesson and make him familiar with the buildings." Then she picked up a plastic folder and handed it to him. "Here, these papers detail your special lessons and access to the literature you'll need in the library."

Deciding that smiling was better than not smiling, he gave her his best grin. "Thanks sensei." Then he walked to the back of the room and sat down at an empty desk, feeling gazes on him the whole way. Sitting down he felt his Rosario slip out from his sleeve, and heard a muted gasp. Quickly turning his head to the left, he saw a girl so pretty it was almost ridiculous. She had pink hair, making him involuntarily think of a person he had hoped would one day be his, and was staring at him, eyes wide.

'Damn, is it legal to be that pretty?' He thought, before quickly turned his gaze towards the folder in his hands. The teacher was going on about "the human world" or some such, and he almost reflexively tuned out the droning. According to the papers, he was supposed to meet his as yet unnamed teacher after school at the entrance to the main building. Further instruction would follow, but he already had a schedule set up for him. He'd be working between one and four hours every school day on the reason for him coming here. He was also expected to join a club, whatever that was, and participate enough to avoid suspicion.

There was also a "burn-after-reading" mission description, detailing him to be prepared to aid the headmaster in keeping the peace in general as well as possibly be given specific tasks. It seemed that he wouldn't be getting much spare time. Thankfully Jiraiya had told him about one of the special properties of his kage bunshin, so he should be able to keep his studying up to par.

Then the school bell rang, and the boy, Tsukune, walked over to him. Surprisingly, the pink haired girl came with him. The boy didn't look like much, and something seemed a bit different compared to the others, although he couldn't say why. For starters he seemed quite nervous. Naruto idly wondered just what he really was, when the boy started to introduce himself. "Hello, I am Aono Tsukune." He said with a small bow, and the girl picked up. "And I am Akashiya Moka. A pleasure to meet you." She bowed slightly as well.

"Uzumaki Naruto, just call me Naruto." He said, standing up and giving them a nod. "Will you be joining us on the tour, Moka-chan?" He added, grinning like he usually did.

"Um, no, I'll have to go to the next class. I'll see you later. You too, Tsukune."

"Of course, Moka-san. Shall we head out then, Naruto-san?"

Tsukune and Naruto spent the next hour or so going through the various school buildings. By the time they were done with the tour, it was time for lunch. Tsukune invited him to join him and Moka outside. Naruto said he'd come by once he'd scrounged up something to eat, and set off for the dorms. As soon as he felt it reasonably safe, he set off at speed, not wanting to miss the chance at making some friends right off the bat.

He was in and out of his room in a few minutes, unsealing a ration pack, not being sure just how he'd heat up his instant ramen, and also bringing a field flask of water. Heading back, he was almost at the school when he thought he heard a voice calling for help. Slowing down to what he thought of as "civilian speed", he walked around a corner and saw a girl kneeling near a thrash burner. She had the uniform skirt, but instead of a jacket, she was wearing a yellow sweater. Still a bit cautious, he walked up to her. "Oi, you okay?"

She looked up, and he suddenly felt his brain shut down. She was pretty, comparable to Moka, and was standing on her hands and knees, one arm just under an impressive bust. He wasn't quite sure what to make of her hair, which was a light blue, but it went well with the heavy blush she currently had adorning her face. Her eyes were also unusual, a deep shade of purple. A mental slap to the back of his head got him thinking again, and he reached out a hand, grinning. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, want a hand?"

She looked taken aback, and for a second he thought she looked disappointed. Then she was all grateful cute girl, and he decided that he must have imagined things. "Oh, thank you." She said, breathing hard as she took his hand. "I'm sorry…to trouble you…but if you could…help me to the infirmary, I would be grateful."

"Sure thing, lean on me, and if you need it I'll carry you."

"Thank you, that's very kind." Her breathing had gotten better, and Naruto noticed that a rather prominent part of the girl had somehow gotten intimate with his left arm. "I'm afraid it's my chest that's causing all the trouble, sometimes I really feel like it could just _burst, _it's so tight." Saying that, she somehow managed to sandwich his arm between her breasts, giving Naruto all sorts of pleasant problems. Like trying not to drool.

"Aha, I see." He replied, looking away and trying not to blush. "That must be hard on you, getting dizzy all the time." Then he wondered just where that comment had come from.

"As long as there are nice boys like you to help me, I'll be alright. Sorry, but could you look into my eyes?"

"Sure." He replied, and did just that.

"My name is Kurono Kurumu, do you think you could be my friend?"

Naruto suddenly felt dizzy, and then the feeling passed, making him wonder just what was going on with him. "Um, sure, no prob Kurumu-chan." He paused and scratched his head in embarrassment. "After all, who would say no to being friends with such a cute girl?" Again with the weird comments. 'I think me and Kyuubi no troublemaker need to have a little talk.' He thought to himself.

When he looked at his new friend she seemed to be staring at him, confusion evident on her face. And then she blushed again and looked at the ground. "Do you really think I'm cute Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, definitely." He smiled, seeing that she didn't seem to think badly of him complementing him. "There aren't many girls back home that can compete with you."

She seemed to mull this over as they walked towards the main building. When they drew near, he spotted Tsukune and Moka sitting at a bench near the entrance. "Yo, Tsukune, Moka-chan!" He yelled waving his free arm. When they waved in response, Kurumu got tense.

"Do you know them?"

"Yup, They're in my class, I was just heading back to eat lunch with them when I found you."

"Oh, I see." She stepped away from him. "Thank you for the help Naruto, but I'll be fine from here."

"Huh? Are you sure Kurumu-chan?"

"Yes. Go and eat lunch, I don't want to be the cause of you missing a meal. I'll see you around." With that, she headed off at speed for the entrance to the main building, leaving a confused Naruto behind.

'Was it something I said?'

* * *

The rest of the day passed quickly. He had P.E. in the afternoon, before finishing for the day. He made another friend during that lesson, Shirayuki Mizore. Or maybe a new rival was a better description, as they ended up on different teams for a game of dodgeball. In the end, it was him against Mizore, but although she certainly tried her best, he managed to nab her in the leg, throwing for the first time with both hands. The fact that he threw three balls seemed to stun his classmates.

As his classmates cheered from the sidelines, something new and enjoyable in itself, he still made certain to thank his opponent, complimenting her on being able to stay out of his sight for so long, yet still take out most of his own team. She smiled, a light blush on her cheeks. Then she stared at him for a fair bit longer than he was entirely comfortable with, before taking his proffered hand and introducing herself. He told her his name and expressed a hope that they might be friends. She seemed surprised at the idea, staring once again, before nodding and saying that it would be interesting to play him.

Naruto wasn't sure if she was speaking dialect or not, but something in the way she said the last part made him wonder if she had a hidden meaning. A part of him thought that it was about time he started to catch on to the signals that some females sent his way. He didn't comment, heading for the changing room to shower and get ready for the extra-curricular activity.

He arrived at the school entrance with a few minutes to spare. As far as he could tell, there were only students there, changing shoes before heading back to their dorms or to club activities. He did get the feeling that he was being watched, so he made a show of switching shoes, walking outside and turning a corner. He immediately created a shadow clone, ordering it to head to the dorm and start studying. They apparently had to learn another language here, and they also had his old nemesis, the only evil greater than Orochimaru with a new batch of young boys in his dungeon. Math.

Unfortunately, there was a large crowd of students heading out after his bunshin, so after waiting a few more minutes, he snuck back inside, doing his best not to draw notice to himself. This time the feeling of prying eyes wasn't there, so he waited for his new sensei to show up.

"Are all Konoha shinobi this lax?" Naruto barely got the kunai up in time, blocking the sword heading for his shoulder. Then he did a quick suiton jutsu, spitting a thin stream of water on the floor, which ricocheted up at his opponent. As soon as he felt the pressure relax, he moved and put his opponent to the fore.

Before him stood a man dressed in a white suit, a katana over his shoulder and water dripping from his face. He wiped himself slowly with his left hand, a dark red napkin absorbing most of the moisture. "Not bad, but I'll be expecting more from you soon."

"Real cute, do you have a name or am I gonna have to beat it out of you? And where are you from anyway."

"Name's Aoyama Toshi, I'm a demon exterminator, basically human with a few extra abilities. I'm also going to try to help you get your daemon under control."

"_It_ is very much under control, it's just that neither of us really know what being "bonded" as you call it means."

Toshi smiled. "Well then, that should make things easier. See we almost never have to fight demons bonded to a human, more often they've melded to an object, like my sword here. And seeing as how you have one of the higher ups, a live daemon of the tailed families no less, I expect that there will be a lot for both of us to learn."

"Wait, you're not bonded?"

Toshi jerked his head slightly, and then looked at Naruto again. "We better move this conversation elsewhere. There is a chamber in the basement that's been prepared for us. Let's go."

Naruto followed the man, noticing as they rounded the corner that someone had just reached the locker area. Apparently the man had some skills besides waving a sword around and dressing snappy. He just hoped that they would be able to make some headway with the bond.

* * *

Naruto stumbled into his room just after eight in the evening. His clone had apparently finished the day's homework, so he dispelled it as soon as he'd gotten his back on the floor. The memories flooded his mind for a short while. Then he got up, rolled out the futon stashed in his room and started to unpack. After an hour he'd gotten everything in place, scrolls hidden behind a genjutsu seal and some sensitive things hidden away in a panel in the wall. He'd also sent a clone to make some instant ramen. Now he had nothing to do it seemed. He knew that he still had to set up a training area somewhere near the dorms, but he'd gotten specific instructions.

If oba-chan came to visit, he'd better not be too tired, or else.

So instead he laid down on top of the futon again, covering his eyes with an arm. It had been a long day, with many new and unexpected things happening. He soon touched upon his first lesson with Toshi-sensei, and that sent his mind hurtling back to that incident at the Valley at the End.

_When Sasuke destroyed a seal that had cost hundreds of lives to create, nothing happened for almost a minute. Then, as Sasuke looked at him, face scrounged up in annoyance, something huge lunged at him. Huge, bladder-emptying eyes seemed to shout with triumph, as the Kyuubi crashed through the gates that had held it for so long. Sasuke never stood a chance, his looking in the wrong direction being what the cunning fox had waited for. There was no blood or such, Sasuke simply disappeared._

_Then Naruto was back outside, and his mind was free to move his body. Apparently, that also went for the huge orange-red shape that was manifesting a few feet to his right. Naruto looked up, and up and further up still. Shukaku had been big, but this thing dwarfed it. As the Kyuubi once more took shape in the mortal world, a tidal wave of killing intent and excess chakra rolled from its body._

_Sasuke, who had been laying in a twitching heap, shakily stood up. "What the hell is that thing?! Why were you given such power?" The Kyuubi roared again, and swung a mighty paw at the genius shinobi, who was utterly unable to dodge the swipe. He made a crater in the rocky wall nearly a feet deep._

_Naruto, who had barely had time to do anything, suddenly realized the current tactical situation. So far the Kyuubi hadn't touched him, focusing its attention on Sasuke. He quickly moved to shield his teammate, facing down the mightiest of tailed beasts holding only a kunai. He realized, standing there, that he barely had enough chakra left to turn his hair red, much less form any offensive jutsu. He also noticed that his body was drained, his legs suddenly shaking and his sight growing dim._

'_Oh man, someone should be here to witness the bravest and most stupid act in all of shinobi history.'_

_The Kyuubi lowered its gaze, staring its former host in the eyes. __**"Move aside Uzumaki, I only want the Uchiha." **__Its voice was dripping with malice and the promise of a death so painful it would almost be coming back from the other side as pleasure._

_Afterwards, he'd never understand just how he found the energy to keep standing, let alone attempt to deny the gigantic daemon its prey. "Up yours, you flea-ridden ball of pus. He's my friend and I ain't moving for nothing."_

"_**Why? He's a traitor, he'd kill you as soon as look at you."**_

"_So, take him then, you just have to go through me."_

_The Kyuubi let loose another roar, splitting the sky. Strangely enough, it seemed that this time its voice was filled with frustration rather than rage. And something else. __**"I can't, that idiotic little shithead messed with the seal somehow, if I kill you then I will die too."**_

"_Then get back inside me!" He said, more out of spite than any other reason. Strangely, the Kyuubi just looked at him. Then its body started shaking, fighting against a power that Naruto couldn't even begin to comprehend. It suddenly reared up, tails flailing about in a frenzy, and slammed its paws down just centimeters from him._

_Then it stilled and lowered its head. With a voice filled with self-loathing and frustration it said something that Naruto would never had expected._

"_**As you command, master. Please come to your mindscape soon, it seems we have much to discuss."**_

_Then the daemon seemed to fade away, a string of orange from one of the tails latching on to him. He could feel the chakra slide into him, centering at the spot that the seal had covered._

_His energy low and stamina exhausted, he slumped to the ground and closed his eyes._

_He was back at the cage, the ruined remains hanging uselessly on bent hinges. His mind buzzing with questions, he started walking into the lair of the Kyuubi. It seemed to be empty at first, then he spotted a piece of darkness that seemed to have a different shade of black. "Where are you, you bastard fox? Come out!" He said it loudly, confused and tired beyond the point of caring about his safety._

_The darkness moved a bit, and a smaller version of the Kyuubi walked up to him. It was maybe one size bigger than Akamaru. __**"Here I am, lord. Are you well?"**_

_Naruto wondered if it was possible for his eyes to fall out. "What's happened? You're small, you're talking funny and you're not killing me!"_

_The daemon sighed. __**"Aye lord, I beg your pardon, this has not gone as I thought it would. To start with, you and I have been entered into a bonding. To explain it simply, it is very similar to Gaara's relation to Shukaku. There is however, as you may have deducted already, a difference. When I was sealed into you, the man who performed the sealing threatened me, saying that either I swore on my tails to serve you as if you were my lord, if we were ever to be bonded, or he would sever as many tails as he could from me as he was taken by the shinigami. I had forgotten this, and when the foolish Uchiha brat tore the seal, I could only think of the freedom I was soon to gain. Then, as soon as I left you and manifested myself, I found myself held by my geas, or vow. Thus I attacked the Uchiha immediately, hoping to gain some small revenge before the nature of my bondage was made known to you." **_

_The fox sat down. __**"The reason for us to become bonded is the fact that someone other than yourself removed the seal inside your mind. I myself do not know the why of this, as some secrets are kept by those even more powerful than me. As I am now sworn to your service, I must do what I can to aid you, hence my smaller size. My manner of speaking has also changed, as it would not be seemly to address my liege as I did my container. I am also forced to beg your forgiveness for my way of speaking to you before. If you demand it, I will accept any punishment you deem fit."**_

_Naruto had a funny feeling that the Kyuubi would change its mind soon and devourer him, but it didn't seem right for a being that could be compared to a natural disaster to be playing games with a mortal. "That sounds so bloody weird, I don't even know which part to start being confused about."_

"_**I understand my lord. We will have time to discuss this matter further later. Although time moves slowly out in the real world while you are in here, it doesn't stop. I must ask you one thing before you go back out to rest. Although you may manifest me in the real world, you must be careful of doing so, as it will drain you of your resources quickly. If you are not careful, you may well kill us both."**_

"_**Now, please return outside, your sensei will soon arrive to aid you. We will speak as soon as possible, I promise."**_

_Then, the mindscape seemed to blur, and everything went dark._

_

* * *

_

A/N: Weird innit? Well, I needed a reason for putting Naruto there, and a drastic change in his relationship with his resident seemed like a good excuse. The vow thing is a bit forced, but at the same time kind of funny. How much do we really know about Namikaze Minato after all? And what does it matter here?

Well, I'm sure there are things that seem weird, and as for the whole pairings thing, I prefer to keep that to myself.

Reviews are very welcome, and well-founded critique is what helps me get better.

Till next update (whenever that will be).

Ja ne.


	2. Making friends

disclaimer; I don't own either Naruto or Rosario + Vampire. I can fold my tounge though.

I've had some pairing shoutouts, and nothing is decided that I'm ready to reveal in advance.

* * *

**Making friends**

The sun was up, a harsh glare streaming in through the window and viciously assaulting his eyes. He tried rolling over, not quite ready to face the new day, then gave in. Naruto tried blinking, rubbed his eyes furiously to get rid of some gunk caught there and sat up. The alarm clock showed that the morning had started at the criminally early time of half past five. He was still dressed in the same clothes as the night before and the light was on. He had apparently been more tired than he had thought. He got up and walked over to the washstand. A few splashes of cold water forced him to start waking up, and then he stripped, collected a towel and soap and headed off to the communal shower of his floor.

It was an unsurprising white tiled room, the lack of water on the floor telling him that he was the first one awake. The showers were cubicles, so he stepped into the one closest to the door, threw the towel on to a small shelf inside and set to washing himself. While doing that, he decided to try one of the things he'd talked to Toshi about the day before, and started molding a tiny bit of chakra before sending it through his chakra coils.

"_Good morning, my lord. Are you well? Was thy sleep sufficient?"_The voice did not quite boom as it used to, nor did it give him a headache. "_Yes, it was and how are you?" _Naruto reflected briefly that the idea of having polite conversation with the Kyuubi was something that would have been deemed impossible, and even dangerous, just a few months back. "_I am well also. What do you require of me lord? Has someone disturbed you and need to have their spleen removed by defenestration or perhaps get their nails pulled in a bath of vinegar?"_

Naruto winced at the ideas, although he wasn't sure about one thing. "_What's defeneration?" _He could almost hear the daemon rolling its eyes. "_That's defenestration, or murdering someone by throwing them from a large height, like out through a window on the twelfth floor."_

"_Ah, no, I was just anxious to try out the techniques that Toshi showed yesterday. I was also thinking of trying a manifestation. Can you take a human form?" _He could _feel _Kyuubi reacting to that. "_Aye, lord, if you command me to do so. Just, remember I'm not human and that I am still young for one of my kind."_

"_That's alright, I have an idea I'd like to try, but I'll need to see how you look as a human. Can you change your appearance too?"_

"_No lord, my way of metamorphism does not work that way. And I would also like to tell you that I would be most insulted if forced to assume any other animal's form."_

"_Okay then, let's try it!" _With that, he increased the flow of chakra and split it, sending one part into the Rosario hanging from his neck and the other into a certain part of his stomach. Once the connections were made, he focused his eyes on the other side of the half-door of the cubicle. Then he felt a movement inside of himself, and his bonded daemon was following the thread of chakra. This wasn't the only way to do a manifestation, but it was easiest to use objects as mediums. Then a haze appeared above the tiles, and a red-orange blur formed, quickly assuming a humanoid shape. Then the colors withdrew.

Naruto stared. _This _wasn't even on the same planet as anything he'd been expecting. His blue eyes were staring into red eyes, no surprise there. He shifted his gaze upwards. Red hair, tied up in nine waist-long whip-like tendrils with white at the ends, well within the plan.

The obviously feminine face, the body of a woman in her mid twenties and the lack of clothes were, however, very much not part of anything.

"What the hell!" He yelled, feeling blood rush to his face as he whipped around, eyes wide and his pulse racing. "Kyuubi, explain yourself! And put some clothes on!"

"My lord, what's wrong? Is this not why you had me manifest in my human form?" He could feel an increase in the chakra moving along his coils. "There, I am decent. Now, what is it you would have me explain?" Naruto turned around, meeting Kyuubi's eyes and focusing on them, rather than the flimsy, white material that she'd draped around her body. He also ignored her much-too-victorious smirk.

"Next time, please come out wearing some real clothes, I almost had a heart attack! And since when were you a female?" He realized that he was actually growling. His, no _her _appearance had shocked him almost out of his wits, and he suspected that it had been planned that way. "That's what I want to know about! And why didn't you put on some Kami forsaken clothes!" Naruto realized that he was shouting, and rambling as well.

"My lord, you didn't know I am a female? How surprising. Then I must ask your forgiveness, I expected you to want to take advantage of me and simply came dressed for the occasion. You are after all a healthy young male, able to procreate. I'm sorry if my appearance doesn't please you." She lowered her eyes, and then smirk widened quite a bit. "Well, I suppose you're not really displeased with this form."

Naruto followed the direction of her gaze and then quickly whipped down his towel to cover himself. "I am not a pervert, and I am offended by the idea that I'd take advantage of you. Not to mention that I was thinking about letting you remain manifested for a while to see how much of a drain it really is, but if you're gonna be like this then fine! Get back inside and don't disturb me for a while!" He was fuming, anger almost strong enough to create a presence of its own.

The Kyuubi decided that this might not be the time to push her master, he didn't understand all the details on how their bond worked yet, and an unfortunately worded order could really put her in the deep end. Regretting her decision to try and second guess him, she simply bowed her head and started the process of dematerializing. "Yes, master, I am sorry." Then she was gone.

Naruto worked his yaw a bit before muttering a rather vile curse under his breath. He didn't feel good about his outburst, although he'd be damned before he'd apologize for it. Shaking his head at the whole situation, he turned off the water and got out, drying himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist and heading back to his room. School wouldn't be starting for quite a while yet, so he figured that he'd have time getting a run in and maybe a bit of meditation. Nodding to himself, he got out the school training outfit, choosing the trousers over the shorts, as the morning looked rather chilly. Then he headed out, aiming for a thirty minute run.

* * *

He'd been running for a while, nearing the time he'd have to head back. He'd seen a couple of other early risers out and about, but not for very long, as he was running almost as fast as he could. The idea that they'd find it strange to see a fast moving blur zooming past them never entered his mind. After all, he couldn't really train his conditioning unless he pushed himself. On the way back, he took a shortcut, passing through a relatively wooded area, although the only living growth were lichens and fungus.

Wondering idly about the reason for the dead greenery, his thoughts were interrupted by voices nearby. Following his natural curiosity and shinobi instinct, he veered towards the sound, pushing a bit of chakra into his system to speed up. He wasn't expecting trouble, but as he drew nearer he realized that the voices were shouting, if not very loudly. And one of the voices was female. That had him tone down his presence and take to the trees. Whether it was serious or not, he wasn't going to interrupt anything with a female monster involved. He was unsure of just how to handle civilian girls his age that could possibly decide to roast him for dinner. If he could postpone finding out about that he'd be extremely happy.

The scene greeting him upon getting close enough to eyeball was surprising to say the least. That girl Mizore from the day before was pushed up against a tree, a man standing less than a foot away and both hands on either side of her waist. He couldn't see who the male was, although something told him it was an adult. Mizore looked distressed, eyes wide and possibly shocked. Naruto strained his senses a bit and could feel that the girl was indeed shocked, as well as scared and starting to feel betrayed. It felt similar to how he had felt when Sasuke started hitting him for real a few months back.

The male was an emotional cesspit, amusement, excitement and lust boiling inside him. This was in contradiction to his voice. "-I promise you'll like it Mizore-chan, just trust me on this. You trust me right? You like me, don't you?" The voice was compelling, soothing and full of promises. Promises that he'd obviously wouldn't keep the minute they became a nuisance to him. Naruto almost growled, realizing that he hadn't met a slime ball of this caliber since Mizuki.

Mizore still looked unconvinced. "But sensei, it's so sudden, I mean I like you, I really do, but I-" She faltered, unable to voice her misgivings and feelings of unease. Naruto guessed that the frustration would send the "sensei" over the edge. Wondering who it could be that Mizore had an apparent crush on, Naruto crept closer, trying to get a sniff of the man's scent. An errant breeze of wind brought him a whiff of something he recognized, and pairing it with the clue of him being a teacher, decided that it must be that gym-teacher, Kotsubo-sensei.

Naruto was surprised, sure the man seemed to be recognized as a looker, but for him to actually try and seek a relationship with a student? Why would a guy with his looks lower himself to that level? His questions had to be postponed however. "Now Mizore-chan, I've been patient you know. Most guys today would expect to get something from the girl that's confessed to them, and you did that over a week ago."

Mizore actually blushed at this, not able to look him in the eyes. "I gave you a kiss yesterday, didn't I?"

Kotsubo leaned in close, his face a few inches away from her ear. "That was just a kiss, any real man would want to get the real thing from the woman that loves him, or are you just playing with my feelings?" By now, Naruto understood without a doubt what the bastard was after. 'May Kami strike down all perverts with great vengeance and furious anger!' He thought to himself, deciding that he'd heard enough. He knew that theoretically she might be a powerful monster of some kind, but he'd be damned if he let a girl face off against an adult on her own while he hid in the background.

Just as Kotsubo placed his hands on her sides, sliding them slowly inward and upward, Mizore saw a blur in the corner of her eye. Then the teacher was flying through the air, courtesy of a pissed off Naruto and his foot, which had hit the teacher in the head. Not wasting any time, he followed up with a few heavy slugging punches to the stomach, ending in an uppercut. The adult, who hadn't had time to touch the ground yet, smashed though a tree before stopping with a crunch against a grave marker.

Snorting derisively, Naruto turned to Mizore, gratified to see that she looked to be unhurt. "Um, hi. Sorry if I interrupted something, but I just couldn't take anymore of the bullshiting. I get allergic reactions from it." To his surprise, she spent a few seconds staring at his face. Then she spent a while looking over his body, as if she had a way to see through his clothes. Then it was back to his face again, only this time she seemed to focus on his eyes.

Then she walked up close to him, took out a lollipop that she had kept in her mouth the whole time and smiled a little bit. "Thanks Naruto-kun. I think we just might be friends after all. I was considering using you as a sacrifice when I get home, but I think I'll prefer keeping you around for a while." Her eyes briefly flitted toward the downed sensei before returning to his bright, blue eyes. "Good luck." Then she turned away and started walking in the direction of the school.

"Oi, wait up a bit there!" He couldn't let her just walk away after all that. He'd barely gone three paces however, before something attached itself to his leg and pulled. He fell forwards, twisting himself to end up on his back, an arm behind his head. A large, well, he guessed it was a tentacle, had wrapped itself around his leg. And now he was being pulled towards a few trees, a shape much larger than the man he'd booted there waiting for him. "What the hell? Bastard, let go of my leg or I'll kick your ass again!"

Kotsubo didn't seem to be too upset by the threat, white teeth showing off a wide grin. "Ah, Naruto the transfer student, what a surprise. You haven't even transformed and you're already strong enough to piss me off. I am impressed. Normally that would ensure you straight A:s for the rest of the year, but you won't live long enough to enjoy them. Can't have you and my little plaything run off and tell on me, now can I?" Now he was dangling Naruto upside down, obviously feeling in control and wanting to enjoy the moment.

Naruto swore as he felt himself whistle through the air, and gasped when he was slammed into a tree. He lost his breath, and felt that a piece of wood had pierced his lower back. Deciding that his opponent most likely didn't have any more cards to play, he drew a kunai and tossed it at the shape that was playing with him like a cat plays with its prey. The only reason that it didn't jab itself into an eye was that he was being jerked around so much that it was almost impossible to aim, especially without a breath to hold. Still, it did lodge itself into a shoulder, which earned him an impressive screech and go him dropped onto the ground.

Back at solid soil, Naruto felt the need to express his emotions a bit. Looking at the monster with several tentacles waving about, he felt that although words wouldn't be enough he'd have to start somewhere. "Holy crap, you look like something put together from a box of spare body parts. Did Kami run out of ideas when he thought you guys up and just threw a few things together? Or are you perhaps supposed to be a walking fried octopus dinner? And what's with the smell, is that your soul or did your mother just forget to teach you about bathing and deodorants?" Okay, so he was still a bit out of breath, but it did give him an incentive to be a bit more creative with the insults.

The walking monstrosity was obviously not happy with Naruto's remarks, and sent out four suction cup equipped limbs to get a hold of the situation. As well as crush it, wring it and toss it away to bleed to death if that was possible. Testing his ability to last as a wet rag was very low on Naruto's list of things-to-try-while-away, so this time he moved to avoid, the tentacles whipping past with just a couple of centimeters to spare. It could have been quite a lot more, but Naruto didn't want to demonstrate his greater speed without needing to.

Spending a few seconds just dodging and weaving away from the grasping attacks, Naruto felt pretty confident that he'd managed to root out all he needed to know about the teacher's strangely fitting monster form. He was thinking of ending it when his teacher actually gave him the opening he needed. "Stop dancing around and fight me for real you weakling! Get that monster form of yours out and let me crush you before I die of old age!" The shout followed with all available arms shooting towards him, dropping almost all defenses.

"As you wish!" Was the cheerful reply. Going into full kick-this-guy's-ass-so-hard-it'll-leave-permanent-footprints-mode, Naruto summoned a few clones, sending a few forward to keep the monster occupied, while another hung back and helped him form his favorite jutsu. As soon as it was finished, he rushed his opponent, using the few clones remaining as cover before diving towards his foe's chest. "Rasengan you ugly bastard!" Having given no warning of just how fast Naruto could move, Kotsubo was caught unprepared and the technique hit him, this time sending him over twenty meters, ignoring the presence of the trees and headstones that were smashed apart in his passing.

When Naruto checked his opponent, it became obvious that he wouldn't be getting up soon, although he was still alive. He'd decided to leave him there and get help, the power of a monstrous body apparently enough to keep him alive from the blow, when he felt people approaching. Soon both his homeroom teacher and the headmaster had arrived, the cat-look-a-like possibly there to aid her colleague while the eerie man with the weird eyes grinned his deluded grin and asked Naruto to walk with him.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, an eventful morning I expect? Barely been here twenty four hours and already thrashing my staff, and here I thought that you enjoyed Physical Education, was I wrong? " The man was grinning the whole while, and Naruto decided that the weirdo was withholding judgment until Naruto had at least tried to explain himself. They'd only moved a few paces away from the knocked out P.E. teacher.

Not feeling guilty of anything but a sound ass kicking, he replied without hesitation. "The bastard was trying to force himself on one of the female students, despite her repeatedly declining his sick suggestions. When he started grabbing her, I decided that he'd crossed a line and kicked him off her. I thought he was down, but he got me when I turned my back. You shouldn't eat that Nekonome-sensei, you don't know where it's been." The last was directed at his teacher, whose tail had come out again and was whipping back and forth excitedly.

"Hmm, and then you fought for a bit before you tired of playing the waiting game and knocked him out. Impressive. And never did you take off the Rosario either, huh? Well, as helpful as it is to have my staff losing any undesirables, I now find myself short of a teacher. That is your fault, and so you will have to solve that problem. Please come to my office at lunch today. On a side note, have you chosen a club yet?"

Naruto felt his mind take a misstep at the change of topic. "No sir, I have barely had time to unpack, let alone find out what clubs are available."

"Hm, of course. There will be a big club selection day soon, be sure not to miss it. Well then, I expect I should leave you and the young woman alone, I'm sure you have lots to talk about." His grin actually widening a fraction, the headmaster started walking towards the school. Naruto just stood, wondering what the weirdo was talking about, when he got a feeling he was being watched. He looked over his shoulder and saw Mizore standing behind a tree, staring at him.

Not really sure about why she was standing over there, he grinned and waved in her direction. "Yo, Mizore! It's okay, you can come out now."

Strangely enough, the girl just stood there, staring at him while blushing slightly. After a few seconds of this, she got out from behind the tree and walked over to him. While she did, he got another look at her, checking for any wounds she might have tried to hide. Oh, and giving her a once over. Something he would be happy to do more often he reflected absently. Somehow he'd gotten into contact with three ridiculously pretty girls, helping two of them out of sticky situations, and it was only his second day.

"How did you do that? You never changed to your true form, and sensei is -was- powerful. And what was that blue shiny thing you used?" Once she started talking, it was like a dam bursting open (for her that is), and he realized he'd have to head this situation off. Naruto hesitated, he'd thought she didn't see the second part of the fight, and so he would be forced to come up with an answer on the spot. Or wait-

Closing his eyes and focusing inwards, he entered his mindscape. He couldn't see the Kyuubi right now, so he crouched in the shallow water and started to think. Hard.

Well, that didn't help much. Where was his unwanted bondsmate when he needed her? "Kyuubi! Where are you?" Well, apparently he can make echoes inside his own mind, but no daemonic servant. "Get your butt over here right now! I need help!"

"**Master?**" The fox's voice actually sounded sleepy. Then he heard shuffling, and a shape was moving towards him in the gloom. "**My lord, I was not expecting you here, forgive me.**"The Kyuubi was back into fox shape, still no bigger than a rather small dog.

"Change to your human form foxy, those tails are giving me the shivers."

The daemon actually flinched at first. "**Yes master. Any specific requests for my dress?"**

"Don't care, as long as you are decent." The fox looked pissed off, as far as he could tell, and then it, shifted, or perhaps saying that it _melted _is more accurate. He looked away, vaguely disturbed by the strange sight. When he looked back the beautiful woman was standing before him, a short kimono in orange with a black and white lightning motif, covering things he'd prefer not to see. At least not on her. Strangely enough, she still seems extremely angry, a glare trying to burn through his eyes and into his brain. "What is it _now_? I really don't have time for you throwing a tantrum."

"**I am sorry that someone as ugly as myself is bothering you, lord. I promise you do not have to worry about me causing a disturbance.**"She actually seemed to get even angrier at this, impossible though it seemed.

"Yeah right. Now I'm ordering you to tell me why you are angry."

"**Fine then. I'm angry because you insulted my tails, and then you order me into this shape without giving a damn about how I look. I'm also angry because you seem to hate me so much despite the fact that I've been trying so hard to serve you.**" She looked ready to burst into flames at this point, a faint shimmer in the air showing that _something _was being held back by an astonishing self control. Barely.

Naruto groaned, hiding his face in his hands. Wasn't the mighty fox daemon supposed to have grown out of her childish-petulancy period by a few thousand years? "Okay, I think you and I are going to need to have a long talk later, but right now all I can say is that I'm sorry if I offended you and that I am very thankful for you not ripping me to shreds when the seal was taken away, as well as for all the help you've given me. Now, I wanted to ask you about something, but I think I've run out of time. I'll see you later in any form you want." With that he returned to the outside world, hoping that he hadn't been gone for too long.

"-ruto!" Mizore's face was almost touching his, a look of concern evident. He blinked, focusing once again on his surroundings. "What happened, you totally zoned out on me there, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just had something to think about. By the way, do you know what time it is?" He was slightly ashamed by his reply. Naruto was hoping to use her concern to sidestep her questions, and that didn't sit well with him, as she was a possible friend. But he didn't know just how far he could trust her, and so he had to at least down play his power. Not answering right now, so soon after this debacle, was probably the best option.

"Oh, well, I think we have about an hour before school starts." She looked slightly disappointed, but he guessed that her relief at him being okay would be enough to keep her from interrogating him right away.

"Ah, right. Well, I really need to go shower and change and so on. That okay with you?"

"Sure, but can we meet up and go together to class?" She looked away, blushing slightly. "I'd feel safer if I had someone with me."

"Okay, how about outside your dorm a quarter before classes starts? We should make it in that time, right?"

"Uhu, that sounds good." She gave him another of those long looks, before turning away and heading off towards one of the girls' dorms. Before she'd gone too far she looked at him over her shoulder. "We'll talk later, don't be late."

Naruto shook his head and, looking over at where his homeroom teacher and Kotsubo had been, he was unsurprised to find nothing but a few scattered spots of blood. This thing with everyone being a monster was something he really had to get used to soon, it wouldn't do to underestimate anyone at this place, and he'd gotten a nasty feeling that might made right at his new school. While setting off for his own dorm, hoping to catch some breakfast before he had to go to class, he pondered just what kind of monster the others might be.

Nekonome-sensei was sort of obvious, a kind of cat monster that seemed to retain the species' fondness for fish. Moka was wearing a Rosario too, just like him. He was unsure of whether that meant that she also had a bonded daemon or was just really powerful. He decided to try and find out soon, allies and friends were a priority. Tsukune however seemed awfully weak, constantly giving of an air of nervousness. It could of course be something else, but he liked the guy's personality and that made knowing more important as well. Kurumu and Mizore were kind of blank to him though. He had a suspicion that Kurumu had tried to do something to him the day before, but he didn't know what. Possibly he could get Kyuubi to share a bit, if she knew anything, at least about monsters in general.

Well, at least he'd get Mizore to himself for a little while soon, perhaps he could get her chatting about something that would give him a hint. Wondering just how he could do that without having to answer some rather delicate questions himself, he headed into his dorm building, planning to set a new record in getting ready for the school day.

* * *

A short while after knocking, he could hear a voice bidding him to enter. Opening one of the large wooden double doors, Naruto entered into the dimly lit office of the monster school's master. It was quite big, built in an older style than much of the rest of the school, and was full of various strange and apparently necessary monster parnaphilia. Like skulls with candles stuck on top of them, a few bookshelves lined with dusty tomes and for some unexplainable reason a stuffed, really long lizard looking thing hanging from the roof.

Naruto turned his eyes to the man sitting behind a desk. The headmaster was leaning forward on his elbows, fingers intertwined loosely and the perpetually manic grin smirking at him from just above the digits. "Ah, Naruto-kun. Good that you're on time, I'm hoping I won't have to keep you from lunch for too long."

"No problem headmaster. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

The headmaster stood up and walked around the desk. "Well, you see, I will need a substitute teacher until I can find a suitable replacement for Kotsubo. Now, seeing as how you have a willing servant with lots of experience of all sorts of things, I was just wondering how well you can manifest and for how long. Having your daemon train our young students could prove quite-"He paused, the grin growing wider. "Interesting."

Naruto froze, wondering just how he was going to start to explain the current situation with the Kyuubi. "Um, well. Ahh, there are a few things that might make that… troublesome." Oh, great, now he was starting to sound like Shikamaru. "I suppose I'd better do a manifestation. I don't want to leave her out of this discussion." He closed his eyes, sending his chakra swirling.

"_Oy, foxlady, sorry to keep you from napping, but the headmaster wants to talk to us about something."_

"_Yes master. Please establish the link for me, and I'll be right out. What form should I take?"_

"_Your human one. Wear whatever takes your fancy, but I'd like to see a lot of green. If that's okay with you?"_ Naruto had to shake his head at himself, telling a practically immortal fur clad natural disaster what to wear seemed almost hysterically weird. And they still hadn't had that long talk that they needed for several reasons. The idea that his bondsmate might not be able to reason as a human would had struck him during the short recess between math and human history earlier. It would explain the rather bizarre reasons for her anger that morning.

He realized that he'd actually managed to establish the link without thinking about it. The familiar swirl of colors also took less time to resolve themselves than before. Soon Kyuubi was standing there, a green colored kimono easing the worry that Naruto had felt at giving the daemon free reign in choosing her clothing. He knew that he would sooner or later have to trust her, if nothing else there were the battles to fight with Orochimaru and that strange organization Akatsuki. It just wasn't easy.

"Ah, welcome to Yokai High, Kyuubi no Yõko. It's an honor to meet a representative of such a well renowned daemon family." The damnable old weirdo didn't miss a beat, addressing Naruto's bondsmate as if she was simply a relative of a friend dropping by unexpectedly. "I am the headmaster of this school, and I have a few things I'd like to discuss with you and your current carrier."

"Carrier sounds like a description of someone with an STD. I'm not a disease, Headmaster-san. He is my lord, or master if you prefer." Kyuubi was maintaining an air of indifference, the polite manner of her speech not betraying her emotions.

"Of course, clumsy of me, I would never suggest that about someone of your nature, I prefer my insides on the inside. Now, let's get down to business. Your master has deprived me of a decent teacher, and I need a substitute. Seeing as how your appearance as a human looks old enough, I would like to ask if your master and you could allow for you to extend me that service."

Silence filled the room, as Naruto and Kyuubi stared at the manically grinning man. Then they looked at each other, Kyuubi's blank stare somehow matching Naruto's dropped chin perfectly in expressed body-language-messaging. Then they turned back again, Kyuubi breaking out in a huge grin and Naruto, of course, going ballistic. "Are you out of your mind?! Do you seriously expect me to maintain a functioning manifestation for whole school days on end?" He got off to a quicker start, but was actually outclassed in volume.

"I'd love to! Yay! Wohoo!" Whether it was the reply in itself or the huge amount of girlie squeal filling the Kyuubi's response is irrelevant, as it still managed what would usually take several bowls of freshly made ramen. Naruto shut his gaping mouth with an audible click of teeth meeting teeth, before finding his gaze drawn inescapably towards the human looking daemon. Who was jumping excitedly up and down.

Naruto couldn't really help himself. A lot of new things had happened for him to adjust to, and getting a bit of his old pranking self out was probably necessary. "Oh, that's a gooood little fox." He said, putting his hand behind the ear nearest him and starting to scratch. This did not, however, make her slow down in any way, grinning and leaning into his hand. He withdrew his hand when he realized that it wouldn't be enough to get a rise out of her. He felt strange.

Rounding on her young master and grabbing his shoulders, the daemon that could level forests and shatter mountains gave him a look that could have melted stone, and, in a voice filled with honey, practically begged him. "Please master, can I? I haven't been out in the world for so long!" He stared at her, his mind finally catching to just what that strangeness he had felt had been all about. It was a chock so deep it almost made him shut down, mixed with something else, which he couldn't quite describe, but it was kind of warm and fuzzy.

"Now hold on just a minute!" She dropped her arms, releasing him. "_Well, that shut her up at least." _He thought, only to be treated to the one technique that even the old Hokage had feared. "Oh no, get those puppy-eyes away from me!" Her eyes only grew bigger at that, and the pouting lower lip started to tremble. "Okay, fine! We'll find a way to make it work! Now stop looking at me like that!" Naruto shivered with relief as she turned off the dreaded begging technique, grinning like the top of her head was going to fall off.

"So, what was it I had to do again?" Hearing that, Naruto had to slap himself on the forehead. She obviously hadn't heard anything except the part about being 'outside'. "_She's so gonna hear about this for the next couple of years."_

"Well, there is a rough outline of activities already prepared, you just have to follow it. You'll have three or four lessons a day, and it would be good if you could keep notes on each student's progress, so that there is something for the replacement teacher to use when the time comes for grading."

"Well, if you can control yourself, I suppose that won't be much of a problem for you, right?"

"No master. I'm sure I'll be able to serve satisfactory as a substitute teacher. Would it be okay to include a bit of combat training as well? My master will need to work on his skills while away from his normal sparring partners."

"Combat eh? Well, these are monsters, so there shouldn't be much in the way of objections. However, I insist that you only start that with the third years for now. Naruto-kun can train with Aoyama-san in the warded room. If you perform satisfactory I may decide to let you continue teaching while the two of you are staying at the school."

"That is if I can maintain a manifestation for a whole day you know. We haven't had time to try that, as well as a lot of other things."

"Ah, yes. Well, Kyuubi can use her own energy to maintain herself once she has been manifested. You should however try to develop a mind link. There might well be situations where she'll need your help. The Rosario will keep her from using any spectacular powers, and if the students realize this, some will undoubtedly try to use or exploit that. It is the way of monsters to constantly test the strength of others and continually resolve the issue of dominance. You should also be prepared to get a lot of attention if you decide to put your foot down. Both males and females will react to a strong presence, no matter how you might feel about it. "

"Oh great, my very own fan club, just what I needed."

"Don't worry master, I'll protect you."

"Hmmf, more like you'll become the chair. Please try to keep your squealing to a minimum around me from now on."

"Yes master. I'll save my squealing for the times when we are apart."

Naruto shivered internally at that. It was just so hard to tell whether she was being serious or not.

* * *

It was almost time to head to Toshi's next lesson, when Naruto was forced to witness a thoroughly bizarre and unexpected scene in one of the main corridors of the school. He wasn't certain what was going on, but just when he was leaving the classroom he saw Kurumu, Tsukune and Moka in something that seemed as though it had been gathered from a day TV show. The weird part for him, aside from the strange talk of using someone as food, was how many of the surrounding students, all of whom were boys, seemed to support the busty girl's opinions without any critical thought. Certainly, guys his age were renowned for seeing boob-size first and reason forty-third, but something seemed off about the whole thing. When Moka ran away in tears he glared at Tsukune, only to realize that the boy had a not-really-there sort of glaze over his eyes.

"_Genjutsu? Was that what happened to me yesterday, fox?" _He'd been using a bit of the afternoon to practice connecting with his bondsmate, and after a while had realized that it would require less effort on his part if he just kept the connection open all the time. It would take a bit of getting used to, but Kyuubi seemed to relish the experience of the outside world, even though it was filtered through his senses.

"_It could well be, lord. Although I suspect the talent's base and systemic effect is a bit different for the students at this school, the process and end results would be similar. I do not know the how of her influence on Tsukune, but I suspect that she is a kind of monster that specializes in targeting males, preferably humans."_

"_Why humans? I mean, Moka is apparently feeding of Tsukune in some way, and he being human would explain why he's afraid of his own shadow. And why weren't I affected by her? I am human, right?"_

"_Well humans, for starters, produce a very pure and easily converted energy, even without a functioning chakra coil system. This makes them a prime target for most monsters, as it is easy to feed of them. I don't know if Tsukune is human, although your argument sounds plausible."_

"_What's that mean?"_

"_Plausible? Well, it's like believable or that it makes sense." _Kyuubi had at this point accepted that she'd have to act as a kind of internal dictionary for a while. Naruto wasn't actually all that dumb, just horribly under stimulated. "_Concerning why you weren't affected, I can only speculate, but it might be that her talent isn't able to cope with the existence of chakra. It is after all a powerful spiritual and physical energy, capable of being molded into a large variety of energies and shapes. A mind-disrupting power that doesn't take that into account would have little to no effect on you. And the sheer size of your reserves does mean that you have a relatively large passive molding."_

"_Passive molding? Damn it, why are there so many things I don't know about myself!"_

"_Easy lord, we are no longer talking about basic chakra knowledge. A person who is reasonably well rested would automatically mold a small amount of chakra to keep the system ready for use. It's akin to breathing, you don't have to think about it for it to work and it would never really tire you out on its own."_

"_I see. Well, enough chatter. Something about this stinks, let's follow Tsukune and Kurumu."_

"_Do you really expect me to concur lord? It is you who call the shots. I'm merely your humble servant."_

"_Yeah, great. An eight year old natural catastrophe as a servant. Wonderful. Hmm, better not let her catch me." _With that thought Naruto jumped up and latched onto the ceiling. Kurumu and Tsukune were heading towards the nurse's office, and there weren't many students around that area. The position of the sun and the peculiar architecture of the school gave him an ample amount of shadows to move around in.

"_Would it be too much to ask you to forget about my earlier episode lord?"_

"_Oh hell yeah, I'm gonna make sure you hear about that for as long as I'm able to remember it. You gave me quite a scare there. Just think of it as payback or something."_

By now they were just outside and above the door to the room where Tsukune and Kurumu had gone after the buxomly girl's 'fainting spell'. Naruto carefully opened the door a fraction, peering in. Seeing that the others were behind a screen, he slipped into the room quietly, couching like a spider in a corner of the room where he had a good view of what was happening.

At first Naruto wasn't sure just what was happening, Tsukune was just sitting like a statue with bad stature on a chair and Kurumu seemed… happy. She actually grew a tail after a while, wagging it like a dog in joy. "_Any thoughts on this? I'm feeling a bit lost, why did Kami make girls so hard to understand anyway?"_

"_Ahem, well, I've been meaning to ask the same thing to a boy about males. _ _Anyway, there seem to be something about all this that rings a bell, I'm just not getting all the dots to fit together just yet. Something is definitely wrong though, you were quite right about that master. It might just be that she is using Tsukune somehow. Probably against Moka. It would help if I knew just what kind of monster she is, there isn't enough energy leaking off of her for me to recognize it."_

"Tsukune…" Kurumu had apparently had enough of celebration and was now addressing her schoolmate. She turned towards him and buried his face between her breasts, possibly ignorant of the danger of suffocation that she was threatening the young boy with. "I know you're feeling down Tsukune. I'm sorry… let me hold you and make it all better."

"_Wow, this sounds like something Ero-sennin would write." _Naruto was frowning, not comfortable with intruding at the rather intimate scene, yet certain that he shouldn't leave the two alone. Tsukune had seemed both depressed and confused at the same time, which might mean that what had happened hadn't been so much a genjutsu thing as a puppet or possession technique. He was both intrigued and a bit amazed. Kurumu hadn't done any seals or really shown any sign of using her power, yet had seemingly turned quite a large number to do her bidding. Trying to make this fit together with what happened the day before was difficult, except for the part where she had wanted to avoid his classmates at lunch.

"_Do you think this might be a planned move of some kind?"_

"_Yes lord, that does seem likely, there is no hesitation on her part and she is certainly taking all the initiative. Oh dear, what is she doing now? Hmm, this could be interesting to watch if there weren't so much clothing in the way."_

"_What the-"_

"_Just kidding master. I don't think that young boy has much of a physique to show off yet, he is too young and untrained. Unlike a certain fitness maniac I know, who is certainly hiding a real treat for the young women here underneath his school uniform."_

Naruto's brow furrowed at that, distracted from the happenings that were now taking place on the bed, Kurumu straddling Tsukune after a move that even Naruto had trouble following. "_Who the hell are you talking about?"_

"_Never mind master, I think we might have to do something soon. Letting them kiss seems too dangerous to me for some reason."_

"_Huh? Is that all you're worried about? Whoa, that quite the hug they're getting into."_

"_No master, but monsters don't know about tenketsu points, so the mouth is a common entrance for many very powerful techniques. I think I remember what she might be, and if I'm right we must keep them separate. They'll both suffer from her mistake otherwise."_

"_Hmm, that shouldn't be too hard- whoa! What the hell is- wings?"_

"_Damn! Lord, she's a succubus, we must absolutely keep them apart, she's very dangerous to males in general and humans in particular!"_

"_Hmm, well that shouldn't be- where the hell did those claws come from!"_

"Now I'm mad! Whatever she loves, I'll destroy!" Kurumu was, at this point, what Naruto would call 'Two-fingers-angry', referring to the angriest he'd ever managed to get the current Hokage. Anyone else might have been using terms as 'bat-shit-crazy' but either would work quite well in describing the now apparent succubus' mood. It seemed obvious that she was just about to carve various interesting pieces out from inside of Tsukune, that he'd really prefer to keep inside.

"Stop!" Naruto couldn't help but feel that he just might be part of some kind of B-movie, as Moka charged into the ward at seemingly the last possible moment. "Get away from him!" Even as she was shouting, Moka enforced her own command by shoving the other girl away from Tsukune. It's quite possible that she didn't know her own strength, as Kurumu flew away from Tsukune, across the room and through a window. There was a brief lull, which Moka used to quickly explain what was going on to the still confused and shocked Tsukune. Then Kurumu reappeared outside the window, demanding that the two of them came out and faced her. When they complied Naruto wasn't sure what to think.

Naruto took a position by a window, and when they started moving away from the school, he jumped out and followed. "_Why did they give up the advantage of being inside? That's just plain weird." _When he saw them next, Kurumu dived at them, just missing and instead cutting down several trees as if they were made of paper. Instead of trying to run away however, Tsukune started pulling at the Rosario hanging from Moka's neck. "_Strange, it's not coming off?"_

"_There's probably a reason, but we can ask about that later."_

"_Right" _As Kurumu came around for a second pass, screaming bloody murder, Moka turned her back on her, shielding Tsukune. "Kurumu!" He was moving as fast as he could to intercept the not-entirely-stable monster-girl, when suddenly a burst of what he first thought of as chakra exploded out of Moka. There was a strange light emanating from her, making it hard to see what was happening.

"_Not chakra lord, daemonic energy." _The girl was changed when he could look at her again, her hair turned to silver and fangs protruding from her upper jaw. When she opened her eyes he had a hard time to look away. Although they were red and the pupil turned into a slit, they were also vaguely compelling. "_She's very powerful, and I'd expect not even the same person. Be careful of angering her."_

"_You know I'm bad at taking advice." _As Kurumu and this transformed Moka faced off, he did what he'd always done in a dangerous situation. Got into the thick of it. "Okay, that's enough I think." He announced, landing in between the two girls. "Kurumu, I'm very disappointed in you, forcing people to like you is no way to get real friends." The two girls stared at him as if he had grown two heads.

"Who are you to get in the way of my lecturing this little girl?" That was Moka, suddenly acting very differently. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Naruto, this isn't for you to get involved in. Get out of my way." Kurumu was glaring death-by-mental-daggers at him.

"Meh, I don't think so. I'm not sure just what the two of you are fighting over, but I'd rather not let two of the few people I know here kill each other, so give it up already. Otherwise I'll have to get serious."

"Shut up Naruto, I need to do this if I'm to find my destined mate, and she's in my way."

"And how would allowing oneself to be captured by your power prove that a guy is the right one? You had Tsukune make Moka cry, something I'm certain he wouldn't do otherwise. If you force this 'mate' of yours to act against their will, how would you be able to trust them later?"

"I'm getting tired of you two prattling my time away. I have to teach her to know her place." The other Moka seemed to be getting irritated.

"No, I won't let you two fight over this, it's silly. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Putting his hands in the prescribed seal, he quickly produced a few clones, some surrounding Moka and two latching on to Kurumu and forcing her to the ground. "You can put your Rosario back on, I'll deal with Kurumu-chan. And Kurumu, calm down, I won't let this other Moka hurt you."

"Impressive technique, are these actually solid? What's your name blondie?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you."

"Well, as nice as it is of you to want to avoid bloodshed, that doesn't work with us monsters. You should know that, _if _you're a monster yourself that is." With that she destroyed his clones, moving almost too fast for him to see.

"I agree with her Naruto. It's nice of you to want to help, but stay out of this." Kurumu also got rid of his clones, shredding them with her claws. Then the two girls were going for each other.

Kurumu gained height before diving once again at Moka, who was just standing there, a small smile on her face. "You need to learn not to get defeated before cute boys, that Naruto guy probably doesn't respect weaklings."

"Shut up bitch! I'll get-ahh! My tail!" Moka moved at that insane speed again, and it was only because he'd seen Lee fight that he had any chance of following what was happening. She'd somehow gotten behind her opponent and taken hold of her tail. Now she turned around in mid-air and slammed Kurumu down on the ground, creating an impressively sized crater.

"Well, that was much too easy, did you enjoy it? It's the last time you'll get defeated after all, I don't like to leave alive enemies." Moka was smiling, a powerful aura full of bloodlust filling the air around her as she advanced on her struck opponent. Then she stopped, as Tsukune stepped in between and Naruto appeared just next to her, a kunai at her throat.

"I know I've said it before, but no more fighting, or I'll get mad. Tsukune, you're Moka's best friend, what do you think?"

"That you and I think the same. Moka-san, I don't want anyone to get killed, okay?"

"Are you sure Tsukune? She did try to kill you."

"Yeah, but I'm sure we can be friends, especially if Naruto's gonna be around to look after us. I've never seen anyone that doesn't shake in fear when you've taken of your Rosario after all."

"Ah , yes. Naruto, what do you think I'm going to do to you for holding a knife to my throat?"

"Oh yeah, sorry, it's a reflex." He grinned apologetically, spinning the kunai in his hand before returning it to the special sheath he'd sewn into the arm of his jacket. "And before you get any ideas about hanging me from my intestines, remember that I'm still wearing _my _Rosario. I can take a love-tap though, I'm sure your pride won't let you leave me be anyway."

"Very perceptive of you." She replied, before sending him flying into a tree, a large palmprint on his face. Then she turned to Tsukune and retrieved the Rosario. "As for you, remember that I'm only doing this to keep my blood, I'm not like the other Moka." Then she fastened the Rosario in its place, and promptly passed out.

"Oh, this is gonna sting for a while. Hey, what's the time? Crap! I'm late for class!"

"Naruto wait!"

"Huh? What is it Kurumu-chan?"

"Well, I'm- I'm sorry, you were trying to protect me, and I-"

"Ehh, no sweat, that's what friends do right? Help each other? I've gotta go, Toshi will kill me otherwise. Bye Kurumu-chan, Tsukune."

Then he was off, moving faster than the two conscious teens could follow.

"Wow, what a guy." Kurumu sighed dreamily.

* * *

A/N: Okay, that's a wrap, I'll be in my trailer if anyone wants me.

I won't say sorry for the slow updating lately, I've never really promised any set time for that. But still, sorry. I kept getting distracted while putting this together.

Hope the fight scenes are okay, I'm not sure they really work, so a few pointers would be appreciated.

Till the next update (no, still not promising anything).

Ja ne.


	3. The teacher

Haan: "Well, long time no see. Since you're all walking around holding pitchforks and torches, why don't I let Kakashi take it from here."

Kakashi: "Hm, what?"

Haan: "Take care of explaining the incredibly long wait for an update please. Byebyenowtakecare." Runs off.

Kakashi: "Umm, damn. So, Haan apparently got lost on the road of life, then had to help a little old kitten cross it before helping a cute old lady out of a tree made from nitroglycerine. Then he was chased by a horde of Sasuke fan-girls who wanted to break his legs and make Sauske the main character in all his fics. Then... Nope, can't think of anything else. enjoy this non-profit fan fiction that borrows characters from both the Naruto and the Rosario + vampire mangas/animes, as well as the name of Blood Bowl without claiming ownership of any of them."

* * *

**The teacher**

"What is so damn amusing mortal?" Kyuubi was glaring at Toshi, who was rolling around on the floor and holding his stomach while laughing so hard that he was crying. They, Kyuubi, Naruto and Aoyama Toshi were gathered down in the specially sealed cellar room they used for Naruto's and Kyuubi's training. Although the word 'room' hardly seemed big enough to describe the place, when the word 'huge' kept leaping out and demanding a few minutes of your time. The ceiling disappeared amongst shadows high above, and was kept in place by massive stone pillars. The only light came from a few torches put in holders at various places around the room. And from the massive, eerily glowing seal carved into the floor, which stopped the emanation of Kyuubi's demonic presence to leave their practice space.

Toshi spent a few more moments laughing, before starting to collect himself. Wiping his eyes and sitting up, he looked at the annoyed walking apparition of beauty that had started his outburst. "I'm s-s-sorry, it's just, you." He snickered. "The Kyuubi of the fox demons, a natural disaster taken physical form, is going to be teaching a bunch of teenagers P.E. It's hilarious. The idea that something as noble and powerful as you would be jumping up and down with joy at the opportunity to be a teacher, it's priceless." He managed to contain his laughter, although he kept his grin. "Are you going to make Naruto call you sensei? And make him do laps if he's late for class?"

Kyuubi actually blushed a bit at that, as if she'd been caught thinking something naughty. "Silence, maggot! Do not presume to understand the relationship between me and Master."

Toshi turned to Naruto at that. "You're dating? I haven't heard anything about that, is she a good kisser?" Then he was dodging the swipes and kicks of a howling daemon clad in human form. She was apparently slipping slightly in control, or simply enhancing her current shape, as she grew claws and fangs.

Naruto simply shook his head, not quite believing his sensei's actions. "Toshi-sensei, is that really what you call being a good role-model?"

"Just trying to exemplify the importance of having fun on the job sometimes. Can't have you go completely book-loverish on me. And consider what the girls prefer too."The Aoyama was grinning widely, still dodging the enraged daemon that was trying to eviscerate him. "Besides, although she's a bit slow with the seal active, dodging Kyuubi-chan here is a great form of exercise. After all, how often do you get to be chased around by a fired up beauty?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. He'd had expected something like this from that crazy white-haired Ero-sennin back home, but the swordsman had been all seriousness with him and Kyuubi before. At least with Jiraiya there were no doubts, the man revelled in his notorious "super-pervert" reputation. Aoyama-sensei, or Toshi as he preferred to be called, had exhibited none of the signs he'd seen in other perverts. Then again, comparing a relatively normal human with the likes of Kakashi and Ero-sennin was perhaps a bit unfair. And Toshi hadn't really started giggling while imagining various not-so-allowed sexually charged scenes just because there was a female nearby, or written about as it were. He'd merely wanted to tease his two students.

"Could we stop with this stupidity for just a second? I've had a long day already and there's a pre-test tomorrow. I need an hour or two to get this math-crap under control." Startlingly, Kyuubi reacted immediately, breaking off her attempt to turn the annoying swordsman's insides into outsides and sitting down facing her master. As usual this threw Naruto a bit, since the idea that he not only had a bound daemon as a servant, but a scorching hot one to boot, still hadn't settled well with him. And his normal interaction with females hadn't really prepared him for one that spent so much time near him while, apparently, being submissive and happy about it. He'd actually scolded her after the afternoon P.E lesson, since a teacher calling a student 'master' was an obvious way to start the gossiping.

The response had been almost scarier than when she still tried to take over his body and use it to destroy Konoha. A nine-tailed daemon shouldn't be making noises like a happy kitten when yelled at, or try to rub herself against you.

"Well then, young Naruto. I believe you two have enough understanding of the basics concerning your bond that the special lessons can end. I'll see you on Mondays and Thursdays every week from now on, so that we can continue training your skills, but other than that I'm going to stay away from this school. We semi-humans, or border creatures as we are sometimes known aren't welcome in a full-blooded monster school like this." Toshi had dropped the act almost as fast as Kyuubi. Naruto knew that adults often had several different ways of acting in public, switching masks as the situation demanded, but Toshi seemed to stay himself no matter what. There was a subtle difference in that, but Naruto couldn't find the words for it just yet.

"You sure sensei? We've only started getting this thing worked out you know."

"Yes Naruto. I am sure. You two are working well together already, and there isn't all that much for me to teach you anyway. I'll mostly be here for you to spar with. There are no techniques or such for me to teach you, as most demonically charged skills are unique and difficult to understand. You and Kyuubi will have to discover those things on your own."

"What, you don't know anything about that?"

"No. Beyond helping you find and refine your link there is little I can teach you. I've probably learnt more from what you've told me than the other way around." Toshi grinned again. "You're still the first person I've met that was bonded to a daemon and stayed in control. I've exorcised a couple of minor spirits, but the last time anyone like you was alive was over a hundred and fifty years ago, and that guy used his powers to terrorise his village. As for someone like you, what with the power of your bondsmate and so on, it's quite possible you're unique."

"So what now? Are we done for today?"

"Yeah, you two can head off and do whatever you want. I'm going to talk to the headmaster about your progress and see if there's anything else he wants from me."

* * *

"Sensei watch-" Kyuubi, never letting her gaze stray from Naruto weaving through the opponents defense, swayed to the side. The two partially transformed monsters wrestling each other tumbled past with a few inches to spare. To the short lived dismay of the young students, that brought them over the sideline and into the rather unforgiving concrete stands. "Out! Um, never mind."

Kyuubi merely shook her hair out, still not losing sight of her master. She'd realized that there was preciously little time for training, Naruto's days being full of school, homework and his lessons with the hateful Aoyama. The fact that he'd be choosing a club the next day wouldn't help either.

Her remedy had been simple. Turn the lessons she could control into training. It hadn't really been all that difficult, as most monsters were much too powerful to bother playing something like soccer by the rules. Who cares about breaking a bone when it'd heal in a couple of days anyway? So she'd borrowed a few of Naruto's clones and sat down with a teacher to scour the "internet" for ideas. She'd been expressly forbidden from teaching them to fight, so all the rather interesting schools of close combat that this world had to offer would have to wait.

Instead, she'd stumbled onto a seriously weird, "fantasy board game" kind of sport. She was rather impressed with the amount of work that had gone into the creation of this "Blood Bowl" and just for fun had also cross referenced it to its various real parent sports. It was, she had decided, perfect. It was something like American Football, without the goals, and until a goal was scored, continuous free-for-all mayhem.

The students of Yokai academy had taken to it like fish to water.

As the rather lightly armored figure of her purpose of being broke through the last defenses, kicking an opponent in the face on the way, she couldn't help but feel immensely satisfied. Sure, he couldn't use any techniques, but the game was as close to real life combat as made no difference. The sheer power of the tackles made certain that when someone got careless they could well be forced to head off the pitch to get their arm stitched up or their newly broken leg fixed, an excellent way to teach the importance of dodging. She was hoping to get some spikes and blades attached to the armor later, but she knew that getting that by the headmaster would require some serious effort.

When Naruto crossed into the end zone, she blew her whistle. Unfortunately that didn't stop Mizore from almost opening her master from scrotum to Adam's apple with a spike of ice. That was neither a legal nor a smart thing to do.

"MIZORE!" The yell might have shaken the walls, or even wrecked the building once upon a time. Now it just turned one of her new students pale with fright. A far cry from the power she'd once wielded with impunity, but the look in the poor girl's eyes as she jogged over made up for it. A bit.

"Mizore." She repeated as the shy student stood before her. "Did I not give you and your classmates some instructions before the game started? Some rules to keep this school activity from turning into a massacre?"

" 'S ma'am." Mizore's voice was just on the edge of hearing.

"And what did I say about the use of special powers?"

Mizore blushed faintly. "Mumble mumble not use mumble."

"And we don't use our powers on?"

The blush deepened. "Our classmates."

"Indeed. I'm glad you can remember that. So why, Mizore my dear, did I just see Naruto almost get brutally torn open because of a non-natural ice formation?"

"…sorry."

Kyuubi gave the girl a steady look. It was all fine and dandy that she was sort of impressed with his willingness to step into danger on a stranger's account. Naruto could do with a few friendly people in his life, and if they would only appear after he'd left his beloved home village, then so be it.

Her willingness to almost rip him apart just to test his reaction was something else. She'd have to talk to her after class. Kyuubi knew that her master would almost certainly forgive the silly girl, he was almost scarily easy to manipulate and couldn't hold a grudge using a large cargo lift. And since she knew that there was a certain interest for him among the female monster populace, she was going to set the standards of behavior straight from the beginning. No one would be impaling Naruto in the foreseeable future as long as she was around.

"Well, don't waste your apologies on me, he's right over there, say it to him. And I expect you to come see me after class."

Mizore visibly shook. Their new teacher had appeared from out of nowhere, and very little information about her had been released. It seemed that except for the headmaster, and possibly Naruto for some reason, no one knew anything about her. Her name, Kyuubi, and her appearance did however give rise to endless speculation. There were theories that nailed her down as all kinds of powerful monsters, but the one that really made the student body nervous was the one that said that she was one of the original demon spawn. Where that particular rumor had started no one seemed to know, but very few beings gave off a presence like hers. There had been a few suggestions that she was in fact a vampire, but she somehow lacked the arrogant nobler-than-thou attitude often associated with the lords of the night.

The fact that she called herself "Nine tails" and wore her hair like she did was compelling evidence that she was something completely different. If it was true, the implications could possibly change the world of the yokai. No true demon spawn had walked the earth in corporal form for so many years that the stories were legends about myths.

The way she'd almost torn a student apart for whistling when she entered the gym hall for her first lesson was not going to hurt the rumor mongering in the least.

Having dealt with the most immediate trouble concerning one of the school's beauties, Kyuubi ordered the teams to get ready to kick-off again. They still had a few minutes of game time left, and Naruto's team was only one goal ahead. As they would be defending their lead, she was hoping for the students to give their all before it was time to hit the showers.

"The team that wins will be excused from cleaning up afterwards, and the losers will get an extra assignment for next week!" Having upped the ante, she blew the whistle and the game was on once more.

* * *

"Hey Naruto-san!"

Pulling the shirt down over his head, Naruto's reply came out slightly muffled. "Yeah?"

"Awesome move at the end there dude, it was like you were transformed or something. I've never seen anyone in human form move that fast!"

"Yeah man, that rocked. And we got to finish early too!"

Naruto didn't reply, as his shirt was struggling to stay off, but he was grinning. Sure, he'd pushed some chakra into his legs to speed up, but Kyuubi had been busy sending off two of his classmates for excessive violence and had therefore missed his slight cheating. Of course, he wasn't so sure that she'd expose him in front of the others, she was after all supposed to put him and his safety first, but her obvious tendency towards irrational behavior made him cautious to assume too much. Well, at least he'd get to skip the extra assignment. He'd have enough homework without a four-page comparative essay on the strange ball sport they'd just learnt about. And at least half of his class was happy with him putting in a score just at the end of the game.

As the others headed off quickly, Naruto finished dressing. He still hadn't figured out exactly how he was supposed to put his tie on, and the damn thing kept ending up crooked. Standing in front of a mirror, he wrestled with the thing, wondering what kind of society put nooses around people's necks as a fashion item. Normally he ignored it, relying on the headmaster's order, but his math teacher wouldn't take no for an answer, and since her vibe reminded him of the crazed Anko back home, he'd been forced to promise to wear it to her classes.

"Stupid, annoying piece of crap!" Frustrated, he untied it for the umpteenth time and started over.

"Naruto?" The blonde spun around, surprise and alarm quickly settling when he realized who it was.

"Tsukune, man you surprised me there." Which was worrying. Somehow he'd missed his classmate's presence in the changing room. Focusing, he realized that Tsukune barely emitted a presence, at least compared to his other classmates. That would most likely be a problem further down the line.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. What's wrong?"

"This damn thing, I can't get it right!"

"Well, show me how you do it once."

Naruto obliged, focusing so hard his whole face scrunched up.

"No no, you forgot the second loop. Here, let me show you." While Tsukune tied a decent knot on himself, his experienced hands moving deftly and quickly, Naruto once again tried to figure out just what it was that seemed slightly off with the serious and most often nervous boy. A guy who spent so much time with one of the monster school's hottest girls should, from Naruto's experience, be a lot more self-confident, and possibly broody, anti-social and speak by grunting a lot. This guy seemed to be so, so _average_. Not to mention polite.

"There, that should do it. Just do it the same way I did and you'll have it down in no time." Tsukune loosened the tie slightly, pulled it over his head and handed it to Naruto, who grinned and scratched the back of his head self consciously.

"Thanks Tsukune, I swear you people have the weirdest things here. No one back home would put a snare around their neck just to look good. Well, not many at least."

Tsukune looked taken aback for a second, before smiling in a friendly yet nervous way. "Y-you're welcome Naruto. Glad I could be of some use today. Want to head to class together?"

"Sure thing, but don't beat yourself up over the game today. Anyone can have some bad luck when falling, and we won the game anyway." Naruto was going through the door at that point and missed how Tsukune flinched at his comment. "How's your shoulder by the way? I sent the guy who tackled you into the stands right after their kickoff, so we got even with them."

"Oh, it's alright, just a little sore you know." Tsukune looked down as they walked, and Naruto could recognize the signs of someone who was beating himself up.

"Hey cheer up man, I know you'll do better next time. I heard some of the others talking about starting a club to play and practice, wouldn't that be awesome?" This time, Tsukune not only flinched, but paled as well. "Hey, you okay?"

"Um, well. To be honest, that kind of sport isn't really my thing. I'm just not any good in a fight." He looked away from Naruto. "I'm not really good at anything actually. I usually just get in the way of things."

Naruto couldn't help but stare at his class mate, who now looked ready to sink through the floor in embarrassment. "Well, what about the school stuff? I'm pretty sure I suck at that big time."

"No, I'm just average at that. As in sports or pretty much anything else. I've never stood out in anything what so ever." He smiled a small, bitter smile. "I just can't shake the idea sometimes that I'm totally useless when the important things happen."

Naruto's eyes thinned at that, and, mindful that Tsukune wasn't very sturdy, slapped him lightly in the back of his head. "Shut up! What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull? What about before when the girls were fighting, huh? You tried to stop them even though either of them could have kicked your ass so badly that they would be sending you home in a match box!"

Tsukune looked at him, eyes wide and slightly moist, although Naruto decided to be generous and chalk that up to the slap. "But I couldn't stop them."

"How do you know that, huh? Moka asked for your opinion before agreeing to stop. She'd most likely have tried to rip me to shreds rather than listen despite my threatening her, but all you had to do was ask." He paused, and decided to be precise." Well, once we got them to listen at least. They were almost as bad as Sakura-chan back home first."

"Sakura-chan?"

"Never mind, it's not important right now. What is important is that you straighten your back a bit. You spend several hours every day walking and talking with one of the cutest girls in school, and I highly doubt that would happen to someone useless. And Kurumu has also taken a shine to you right?"

"Well, I think she mostly does that to annoy Moka-san. She always does the most provocative things when Moka-san is around." He made a face saying that, but at least he'd straightened his back and shoulders.

"Hey, don't overthink a good thing. You're envied by most of the boys in this school, why that is doesn't matter." he grinned. "Although I reckon Kurumu burrowing your face in her chest as a morning greeting might have something to do with it."

Tsukune grinned at that, blushing slightly. "If it wasn't so hard to breathe when she does that I'd enjoy it a lot more."

Naruto glanced at a wall clock. "Um, I think we'd better hurry, or we'll be late to class."

The two boys shivered, recollecting the sexy yet eerie teacher that was responsible for their math lessons, and took off at speed. The possibility of being punished by their teacher was just too worrying to take any chances.

* * *

"Join the alchemy club!" Naruto slipped away from a slightly dumpy girl. "The Ghost photography club is accepting new members!" He ducked a creepy guy with lanky hair. "The science club takes love potions to new heights! Barely illegal!" He dodged another recruiter, this one wearing a white coat.

"_Damn, these club people are absolutely rabid!"_

"_Yes master, but do not let that stop you from finding one that suits your interests. A club that would train some of the skills necessary for your ninja career would be advisable."_ Kyuubi's voice whispered in reply. The headmaster hadn't forbidden the new sport, but demanded that she kept the lessons diversified. The students were after all good at violence already, it was _not _visciously assaulting others that they needed to learn. Thus she had concluded that he'd need to maximize the benefits of his club.

"_I know, I know. It's just not as easy as I thought._" He was going to continue when an unexpected interruption occurred.

"Well, hello there handsome." The voice came from behind him, as two slender arms wrapped themselves around him and something soft yet firm pressed into his back. "Now, don't say anything, let me guess. You're a first-year looking for a club, right?" The arms tightened slightly, constricting around his throat, and Naruto realized that he'd better be polite to the person that owned the arms, as they felt strong enough to choke the life out of him, regardless of how slim they appeared.

"Y-yeah, how did you know?"

"Well, actually we of the swim club always keep an eye out for potential members, so we know if there's anyone doing well in the gym. We almost missed you, since you're a new arrival, but luckily I caught wind of your abilities yesterday. Lucky you, right?"

Naruto didn't feel very lucky at all, but decided that he'd go along for now. He could always run later. "Um, yeah. Lucky. Ahaha."

The arms relented their hold a bit, although they didn't disappear altogether, and allowed him to turn around. In front of his was a very pretty girl, dressed as if at the beach and giving him such a warm smile that he wondered who it was that set the air conditioning to "scorching hot".

"Well now, blonde, cute and well behaved. Didn't I strike gold this time. I'm Ichinose Tamao, president of the swim club."

"_Master, I doubt you will gain much joining a swim club, since you are quite capable of walking on water."_

"_Cute."_

"_Oh well, I suppose you can see what they're all about at least. Just keep your wits about, remember that they aren't human."_

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Wonderful to meet you Uzumaki-kun. Please follow one of the girls to the pool and I'll see you there." With that she passed him over to another lovely girl, this one a red head with even less clothing that the swim club president. As he was led away he could hear her start to entice more people into joining the club.

The ruckus the swim club girls made caused him to miss the sensation of eyes trying to drill a hole into his back, but that might well have been for the better.

Following the sexy girl, Naruto wasted no time in striking up a conversation with her. The walk was short, but he was able to find out that there currently weren't any boys in the club. That did make him raise a mental eyebrow. What possible reason could there be for a club with so many beautiful girls to completely lack males? While he kept up the talk, Kyuubi set to pondering that little riddle for him.

He was given a pair of swimming trunks and a towel, and then shown to a changing room. The girl was still waiting for him when he got out, and accompanied him to a large pool area. They were apparently the first to get there as nobody else could be seen.

"So, Uzumaki-kun, you do know how to swim, right?"

"Well, yeah, although I'm more used to swimming with my clothes on. I've never been to a place like this before."

"Wow, really? How strange, where did you learn to swim then?"

"There was a river near the village that we used, and a couple of ponds."

"Oh, that sounds nice, where is your village?"

Naruto looked away. "Somewhere very far away." Realizing that his normal happy face had dropped, he quickly changed the subject. "So, what things do you do in the swim club? I mean, what kind of training do you have? Do you compete against other schools?"

"Well, we usually alternate between playing some kind of water sport and regular swimming training, as well as practicing life-guarding and things like that. As for competing, there aren't many chances for us to do that, seeing as there's only one monster school within a reasonable travelling distance. There is a cliff diving club though, and we usually organize a little inter-club meet during the third semester of every year." The red head paused. "Other than that, we enjoy spending time together. The club is pretty much an extended family to me, as we-." Then her mouth snapped shut and her hand moved up to cover it as well, as if she'd just realized she'd said too much.

"Man that sounds nice, having a lot of good friends like that." Naruto said wistfully, as if he hadn't noticed her lapse. "Back home, I managed to get into a fight with the only real friend I had, and it kinda went out of control." Talking about it reminded him of the last time he'd seen Sasuke, and without realizing it he rubbed the special spot just underneath his heart.

* * *

_He could never recall what it was that woke him up. Probably the sound of a thousand birds all chirping at once, but it could have been something else, like his newly bonded daemon. He could with crystal clarity remember the sight he woke to however._

_Often around three in the morning._

_Somehow, Sasuke had gotten out of the bed and managed to find his room. They'd both been there for almost two days, and Naruto would be released in the morning, one of the perks of the jinchuuriki allowing for an abnormally quick recovery time. Naruto was later told that Sakura had told Sasuke how Naruto was and where he was staying. Without thinking about it, without meaning any harm. Her apology and explanations had somehow hurt even more than the wound._

_He remembered rising to a sitting position, and seeing a blur with a chidori attached to it moving towards him. Then his world collapsed, as the assassination jutsu carved into his chest, causing massive trauma and paralyzing most of his upper body._

"_Why? Why you? Why did they give such an incredible power to a useless nobody? Why?" He remembered hearing Sasuke's voice, distorted by his own pain and Sasuke's temporary madness. Then he'd blacked out again, and when he awoke the next time, it had been four days._

_By then, Sasuke had been condemned to a maximum security cell, an uprising led by some rather irrational civilian council members, claiming that the Kyuubi must have taken over since the last of the Uchiha had tried to kill him had been put down as brutally as Tsunade could make herself, and the secret of what had been kept locked away inside of him had gotten out._

_Tsunade had decided to do whatever she needed to at that point, and after discussing it with Jiraiya and Kakashi released the information pertaining to just how completely he controlled the formerly sealed daemon. Carefully reconstructed of course, the sheer randomness of the act was never disclosed. Most of Konoha's population was almost pathologically scared when it concerned the daemon, and any reason to doubt was covered up. The general mood in the populace had shifted a fair bit in his favor. A few days after, while the village was still celebrating the "taming" of their tormentor, he'd been shipped off, almost no contact with others was allowed after Sasuke's attack, although he'd been assured that the people of Konoha would be a lot friendlier from now on._

_He'd have preferred to keep his first real friend, but nobody asked him._

* * *

"Tsukune! Watch out!"

The unfortunate teen reacted in a manner typical of any unlucky man in that situation. Turning his head towards the shout, he caught the speeding ball with his face. Naruto had been thrilled to get his hands on a rubber ball, and a round of passing had come to an abrupt end when one of the boys missed his throw, instead giving Tsukune an impressive nosebleed.

"Oww, damn it." Tsukune actually looked upset, something that Naruto hadn't really had a chance to see before. That Moka was still heading out of the pool area, without so much as a backward glance, was probably the bigger reason for the stricken face he now wore. The two had come together to see the swim club's activity, but for some reason Moka had been adamant about getting into the water. When Tsukune had tried to convince her, she'd suddenly reached some kind of limit, and left.

Naruto scratched his head, wondering why she'd been so upset. He'd talked to Moka about her true form, being both curious about how the Rosario worked, how Tsukune fitted into it and hoping to learn enough to survive another encounter with the sweet girl's "other" self. He and Kyuubi had discussed it, and decided that he'd gotten away so easily the first time only because Tsukune so badly wanted the violence to end. Vampires were apparently very good at holding grudges, although they usually didn't have to hold them very long. Tsukune had told him after Moka left to get more tomato juice that the other Moka had kicked the crap out of a monster three times the size of her.

His description had left Naruto feeling a bit nervous. He'd made a not-so-subtle threat about just how messy things could get if he released his own Rosario, but now he was starting to wonder if he'd only enticed the blood-drinker to test herself against him. He knew that he had an awful lot of power at his disposal, and he also knew that he was still a novice at wielding it. She however was born a vampire, and had probably shed more blood before going to the human world than he had before coming to Yokai High.

As Moka disappeared down some stairs, Naruto's resident decided to share her thoughts. "_Go after her Master. Please."_

"_Huh? Why? She seems angry you know."_

"_Yes, but there is something more to this. The other girl was being really nasty to her on purpose, but I don't know exactly how. Let us find out. It might help if we have to face the other Moka again."_

The possibility of increasing his odds against the fearsome vampires was enough to get Naruto moving. Seeing Tsukune being held back quite firmly, and noticing other girls angling to stop him, he decided to cheat a bit again. Diving down to the bottom, he used chakra to bounce of the tiles before shooting as fast as he could toward the surface. The force was enough to send him out of the water and up on the side of the pool. Grabbing a towel, he yelled that he'd be right back before heading off in pursuit.

As soon as he was out of sight from the pool area he stopped, led some chakra around his system and then continued running. He hoped that he could find Moka before anyone saw the cute little fox that was now running ahead of him, nine tails whipping around like a rudder to keep balance. He'd only given a mental order as he opened the chakra pathways, and was blissfully unaware just how much the daemon enjoyed his curt commands. The idea that she'd enjoy him ordering her around would probably never strike him unless she told him outright.

The fox kept her nose to the ground, the special scent of Moka easy to follow. Naruto was running as fast as he could without using chakra, content to keep his bondsmate at a distance where he could see her. She turned a corner, and then started yipping excitedly.

As he turned the same corner, he found an excited Kyuubi bouncing around an obviously grief stricken Moka. Naruto didn't need more than a glance to recognize the look in her eyes. She was apparently carrying the same grief that he did, the same sense of loneliness and fear of rejection. How a girl like her could be suffering from feelings as such was beyond him, but how to ease that pain was not.

"Hey Moka-chan. You okay?" He kept his voice low, his concern neither disguised nor faked. The little fox had apparently gotten a bit too involved in her role, as she'd proceeded to pounce into the pink-haired girl's lap and start licking her face.

"Oy! Ease up a little there!" The fox backed off a little at that, and contented herself with simply sitting there. Moka had thankfully not gotten incensed by the invasion of her space, instead starting to giggle softly.

"Well, aren't you a cute little thing. And look at all those tails, where did you get nine tails from? Are you related to Kyuubi-sensei." She refused to look at him, opting to stroke the fur of the harmless creature in her lap. When the fox yipped at her question, she simply smiled a bit wider. "It's beautiful Naruto, is it yours? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Yeah, it's mine alright, and it's a girl."

"So she's kind of like a familiar to you then?"

"I guess, don't know much about familiars." Naruto settled down a bit, kneeling on the floor a little bit away from the still tear-stained girl. "Um, I don't want to pry or anything really, but are you alright?"

"Yes, sorry, I'm-"The girl bowed her head at that, her hair covering most of her face from his honest blue eyes. He didn't need to see her tears to know they were there however.

"Look, I know I might not seem like it, but I know when someone is feeling alone." Naruto paused. "I don't know much about you or why you feel alone, but I can tell you about myself if you'd care to listen."

"Oh, I'm j-just a silly girl, I couldn't possibly-"

"Hey, if I want to tell you, that's my decision. I'm just asking you to lend an ear." Moka almost looked up at that, then after a few moments gave a tiny nod. "Good, so, once there was a little boy that didn't have any parents-"

Naruto told her about himself, omitting anything that had to do with shinobi, daemons or other things that he wasn't supposed to talk about. He told her about growing up in an orphanage, of spending long days alone. He told her about the Sandaime, who had shown up on his seventh birthday to show him to his apartment, telling him that from now on he would have to take care of himself a lot more, and that he always could talk to "jiji" if anything troubled him. He told her about the cold eyes that the adults stared at him with, and how he'd been forced to see his playmates walk off with their parents, while he had to go home alone.

"Well, once I finally graduated from the academy things got better though. Now there are a lot of people back home that are important to me, and apparently I'm important to them as well. That's really cool." As he finished, he noticed that she was staring at him now, still stroking the natural disaster taken cute fox-form absently. When she just kept on staring, he scratched the back of his head self consciously. "Sorry if it wasn't very interesting. I'm not really good at telling stories I guess."

"No, thank you Naruto. It was just so surprising to hear that someone else has had a life like I did." She paused, shrugged, then continued. "Sort of at least, I was never really that alone and certainly not actively shunned. I just felt different. I told you how I grew up amongst humans, right? Well, it was really hard for me to make friends there, so I was never really accepted. I always knew that deep down I was really the one thing they should fear the most, yet they kept denying that I even really existed."

Naruto didn't miss the fresh tears running down her face."So when you finally find a friend, you don't want to lose him, right? "When she nodded, he softly wiped some tears off her cheeks and pressed on to the one thing he couldn't figure out."But, why did you get so mad at him for wanting to swim? Were you jealous or something?"

"No, it's-"She stopped, visibly gathered herself and then continued. "I'm a vampire, and vampires can't stand water like that. It hurts us and steals our power."

Naruto's eyes widened at her confession. "Wow, I can see why you don't want that kind of information spread around. Still, couldn't you just have told Tsukune before? I doubt he'd ever do anything to cause trouble for you, so it should be safe to tell him, right? I'm mean, you told me just now."

"Well, we don't like talking about it, but it's not really a secret as such. I just didn't want to disappoint him, all the other clubs kept freaking him out, and also- "She stopped again, looking exactly like someone who realized that they'd almost said too much.

"What? The clubs kinda got me worried too."

"It's nothing."

"Hey, if you don't want to talk to him about how it is to be a vampire, then how would he know what you can and can't do? I mean, I'm sure he has some things that his kind of mon-" Naruto's eyes suddenly shot open, as a whole bunch of puzzle pieces fell into place with only a little help from Kyuuni. "No way. Is that it?"

"What?"

"Of course, I should have guessed it! He's much too nervous being here, he's weaker than everyone else, barely emits any presence. And you keep drinking his blood too!" Naruto stood up and pointed an overly dramatic finger at Moka. "Tsukune is a human, isn't he?"

"Err, no?"

Before Naruto could continue, he was interrupted. "_Master, something is happening!"_ Looking down, his eyes met Kyuubi's, but before he could reply Moka spoke up.

"Naruto please, Tsukune is in danger! Something is happening at the pool." Moka was suddenly on her feet, beautiful green eyes filled with panic.

Naruto didn't hesitate, training and his personal 'friends first' philosophy helping him to adapt quickly. "Fine, but you owe me an explanation later." Then he was running again, following the flurry of tails and wondering what it was that could possibly have gone wrong.

* * *

"Well, damn." It wasn't the most eloquent of descriptions, but the full blown chaos taking place in and around the pool was not easy to take in. The girls were chasing the boys, which seemed strangely backwards in itself, and the boys were doing their level best at getting away, which was even stranger. Then he saw what happened when one of the boys were caught.

He wasn't certain whether the unfortunate teen was dead or not, but he knew damn well that he didn't want it done to him. The beautiful girls had transformed into a decidedly disturbing form of half-human, half-fish, and when they managed to catch one of the hopefuls they would be on him like a school of piranhas. The remains looked like they had aged somewhere around sixty years, although his now de-manifested resident diagnosed a 'draining of life-force'. Whatever that meant.

Swearing up a storm, he ran towards the pool. A shouted "Tsukune!" told him that Moka had arrived as well, and suddenly his motivation to help Tsukune doubled. The possibility of another apperance by 'scary' Moka gave him the kind of bladder trembling motivation that only true terror could produce, and so he found himself set on an all-out attack kind of plan. Not that he'd had time to think up an alternative, or wanted to either.

Meanwhile Tsukune was doing his best to keep his distance to the swimming club's president. He'd kind of enjoyed her attention at first, but after Moka had stormed off, he'd kind of regretted going there. He'd regretted it even more when the girls had started making a snack out of the wannabe club members. And his regret had peaked when the president had declared him her personal favorite because of his yummy smell.

Now he and all those capable of watching were treated to a sight never before witnessed in Yokai High. If Tsukune had been interested in the religions of his world, he might have wondered if Naruto would be turning the water to wine next. Instead he settled for being amazed, as the blonde whirlwind dashed into the pool area and out _on top _of the water. It was intimidating, not in the least due to his foul language. Stepping on a fish-jaw equipped head, he pulled a boy out of the water and hurled him to the side of the pool. The landing wasn't soft, but at least it was out of immediate danger.

As Naruto caused an impressive distraction, the non-snacked upon boys renewed their efforts to escape. Tsukune was right with them, relief warring with shame at leaving his class-mate and possibly new friend behind to face the monsters alone. He knew that he had better reason to get away than anyone else. He _was_ onlya human, and quite defenseless. Apparently his humanly smell also made him a prime target. The combination of those two factors should have been enough to convince him that it was okay to get as far away as possible, preferably at just under the speed of light.

Instead he felt like a coward, and a traitor. Naruto shouldn't have to dive in against roughly a dozen mermaids in their own element alone to save him and the other guys. He might be strong, but unless he removed that Rosario, if he even could do that by himself, sheer numbers alone would sooner or later get the best of him. Probably sooner at that.

"Get back here Tsukune! I'm not letting our main course run off on us!" Then again, he had his own problems to take care of. Like the suddenly not-so-hot swim-club president.

"Tsukune!" The shout was a welcome one coming from the beautiful girl kneeling on the pool's edge. Realizing he had almost made it, he struck out once more. He didn't need to look behind him to know that several shapes were closing in on him even now. As he finally reached the edge, he stretched out his arm, just as something grabbed on to his legs and pulled. He barely had time for a quick breath of air before the water closed over his head.

While Tsukune fought both himself and the monsters chasing him, Naruto had gotten himself in over his head. The element of surprise had given him a headstart, forcing two fishgirls to back out of the fight. Now however he had been forced on the defensive. They surrounded him, making hit-and-run attacks and weakening him slowly from numerous small wounds. He had decided beforehand not to resort to any of his more powerful techniques, as a small army of clones or a building-sized toad would be difficult to explain even for him.

Right now he would settle for just one person holding his back. As fast as he was, he couldn't cover all of his blind spots at once, and Kyuubi's healing was slowed considerably from the influence of his Rosario. Hoping to get himself out of the sticky situation he jumped, only to find that two of his assailants had followed him up into the air. As one of them gave him a fresh set of claw marks on his back and shoulder, he smashed his fist into the solar plexus of the girl in front of him, knocking her away and hopefully out of the fight. He didn't want to hurt them, but they weren't leaving him any choices that he could accept.

He hadn't counted on landing in the arms of another transformed girl, effectively losing his advantage of staying out of the water. He was quick to react however, smashing his fist into his face before using her as a springboard to jump away again. This time he was joined by four girls, and although he managed to kick one away from him, the other three latched on and followed him down towards the water. Naruto felt himself start to panic. He'd have no chance at all if he got caught underwater, these monsters were perfectly suited to fight in that element and he only had the basics of moving while submerged. Desperately he tried to form a seal, but was interrupted when a shockwave of suddenly released yokai energy washed over him and the now thoroughly distracted girls.

"Damn it!" Was all he had time to shout before hitting the water, thankfully without attached monsters, but unfortunately also without a decent amount of air in his lungs. That didn't distract him from his biggest worry though, as he could easily recognize the new, oppressive power that pressed down on everyone in the pool area. Somehow, despite his efforts, that _other _Moka had gotten loose, and although there were plenty of enemies to fight with he was strangely certain that he was going to be a prime target not just of those preferring water anymore. Not wishing to die from drowning, he headed for the surface, wondering where the ravenous fishgirls had gone. He'd expected them to be all over him once he went under but apparently their attention had now been focused on someone else.

Breaking the surface, he just managed to catch a glimpse of Moka, silver hair gleaming in the weak sunlight, as she dove into the pool. Considering what the other Moka told him earlier, he wondered if she was suicidal or just desperate. Pushing himself out of the water, he once again stood on the violently rocking waters. Seeing the large number of shapes heading for the beautiful terror just under the surface, he realized that no one currently cared that he was there, and so had a small window of opportunity. Forming a seal, he quickly created a kage bunshin just above where Moka had turned the water into a frothing nightmare of conflicting elements, before leaping up onto a nearby roof.

The clone immediately dived in, fighting to reach his, well, friend and potential ally. He barely got under before seeing Moka trying to hold off the president, while Tsukune feebly tried to head for the surface. Not far away the rest were closing in. It wasn't difficult to see the best way forward, and so the clone dove downwards, grabbing on to the weakening Tsukune before dragging him towards the wonderfully breathable air. As soon as they reached the surface, the real Naruto jumped down and grabbed the now barely conscious boy, hauling him out of the water and tossing him out of the pool in one smooth motion. The clone dispersed as soon as the human reached safety, and Naruto dove back in to get Moka.

Under water, things were not going well. Moka was being continually drained by the water around her, while the mermaids kept utilizing their mastery of the element to the fullest, never really getting close enough to get hit, but not letting her strike for the surface either. The sudden entrance of a seriously worked up blonde changed the tables ever so slightly, and as Moka took the chance to get out of the water, Naruto covered her using a wind technique. It was sloppy and consumed at least twice as much chakra as it should, but it caused his attackers to become disoriented for a short while. He hoped it would be enough.

Heading upwards he immediately realized an immense problem. Just above him a pair of shapely legs kicked to drive Moka upwards, and like it or not, her skirt wasn't even close to covering anything of her, well, personal areas. Hoping that she wouldn't use it as an excuse to attack him, he looked down, only to see a virtual storm of shimmering scales and female skin heading towards him. Apparently his jutsu had dislodged quite a few bikinis, and although his inner daemon whispered comforting words about hormones and natural order, all he could think was "_damned if I don't, damned if I do." _A vampire's panties or several fang and claw equipped fishgirls' breasts. Yeah, this situation would qualify as being between a rock and a hard place.

Deciding that he'd simply have to wing it after getting out of the pool, he amplified his legs again, using a swimming technique that resembled the fishgirls'. It was great for moving underwater, but because you kept your arms along your sides to lower resistance and your legs tightly together, it wasn't much good in a fight.

Shooting up out of the pool, he realized that he might have overdone it, as he was practically catapulted past Moka. Looking down, he saw the mass of monster girls collide, the president screaming something to the effect "Now we've got you!" Before being viciously beaten back down into the water by Moka's lightning fast kicks.

Landing with almost insulting grace, Moka gave the defeated mermaids a disdainful glare before uttering something that Naruto would come to hear many times. "Weaklings, know your place."

"Well, duh, air isn't their element, is it?" Said a familiar voice next to his ear, as a pair of arms wrapped around him and keeping him airborne, along with a soft yet firm sensation on his back. Looking around he found himself inches away from Kurumu's sugary sweet face, and had to fight down his shock.

"Kuru-chan, what are you doing here?"

Kurumu gave him a steady look. "Oh, I just heard that there was a huge commotion in the pool from some fleeing boys, and that you had managed to land yourself in a heap of trouble along with Tsukune. So, I figured that since there's barely a handful of worthwhile boys around here, I might as well try to keep a few of them alive." Then her eyes caught a wicked gleam. "You know, I was planning on saving Tsukune and make him take me on a date as a thank you, but since you ruined that plan for me, I'm gonna make you do something for me instead."

"Oh, I'd do anything for one of my friends, you just have to ask." Naruto thought for a second. "As long as it's not something that hurts any other of my friends anyway. So what can I help you with? Has someone been getting a bit too interested in you and needs a thrashing?"

Kurumu snorted. "No, I can handle those problems myself. It's what us succubus do." She glanced past him. "We'll talk about this later, I think Moka wants to have a little chat with us." Ignoring his startled "Ehhh?" She dived downwards, landing neatly next to the still released Moka and the recovering Tsukune and letting go of Naruto.

Moka turned toward him, red eyes almost shining with restrained power, and Naruto noticed in an offhanded way that even though she'd been soaked in the one thing that could really spell trouble for a vampire, there was nothing weak about her. "You." She said, pointing at Naruto. "Stay. You." She pointed at Tsukune. "Stand." As soon as the confused teen was on his feet, she slapped him. "You're trying my patience Aono Tsukune. The other Moka was feeling terrible because of you, and I will not tolerate you mistreating her. You are her most important friend here, and I will not let you make her doubt herself over some egotistical boy. Do not let her feel neglected like this again."

Tsukune averted his eyes, nodding mutely. Naruto knew he wasn't brightest card in the deck, but the anguish and guilt was plain to see for anyone who cared to look at his face. Before he did something suicidal, like talking, he found his gaze trapped by Moka's intense gaze. "You, I would know more about, but alas." With that, she took a few steps, putting herself mere centimeters away from Naruto. "I am exhausted, so I will entrust myself to you and Tsukune. However, your weakness forced me to get involved, and as compensation…" She leaned forward, and suddenly Naruto felt an intense pain in his neck, as Moka's fangs pierced his skin. For some reason, he couldn't move however.

Moka had barely started replenishing her blood stores, before she suddenly jerked her head away and started coughing violently. "Rah! What are you!" She spat, red eyes suddenly blazing with something Naruto couldn't place. "That blood, it is so…" She quieted, before leaning in and began to sniff his wound, before starting to take tentative licks of the blood running down towards his chest.

"Umm, sorry, school rules you know." Naruto wasn't just bewildered, shocked and stunned, he was also starting to feel a heat from inside his stomach. If she had been doing the same thing without the blood, he knew that the carefully constructed walls around his true self would be in serious danger of crumbling.

"Silence! I decide whether to drink from you or not." With that said, she resumed lapping up his life fluid, taking slightly more with each nerve wracking tongue movement. Then her mouth once more closed on his wound, and she sighed contentedly. For a short while only a faint sucking noise could be heard, and perhaps it was for the best that only Kurumu saw the blush that kept getting more and more intense on the vampire's cheeks. When Moka started to moan quietly, Kurumu had had enough.

"Okay! That is enough inner Moka! I didn't catch him in mid-air just so you could drink him dry! Now put that Rosario on and go back to sleep." Moka gave her a lust filled glance, before releasing the blonde.

"Oh fine. I suppose that will be enough to speed our recovery. Don't go and do something stupid like dying Naruto, I might need some of your blood again at a later date." Moka smiled lazily, licking her lips." I still prefer Tsukune's though, so don't forget your place, or I _will _remind you of it. As for you-" She turned and stared and the hot and bothered dark haired boy. "Remember my warning, or _you _will suffer the consequences." Then she walked over to Tsukune and grabbed the Rosario from his unresisting hand.

Just before affixing the Rosario in its place, she paused and turned her face just enough to see Naruto. "One more thing Naruto, did you enjoy the view?" He wasn't certain, but it seemed that there might just be a mischievous spark in those scary red eyes.

Oh great, another damned if I don't, damned if I do situation. I need to learn how to get away from this girl when she is unsealed or I really am going to get killed. Oh well, let's do this the Uzumaki way. "Well, let's just say that when you're that close to a violent death, there are plenty less pleasant views to go to hell with."

"Like a school of topless mermaids?"

"That isn't a bad thing either, just not as good. It's not like I did it on purpose anyway."

"True, and you are the first person I've met in a long while that's worth a sliver of respect. Just be careful with that Rosario of yours, there would be a lot of trouble if it came off." With that, she restored the seal, turning her into the pink-haired, sweet and slightly ditzy girl that stood between the world and inner Moka. As soon as her hair had returned to its unreal pink tone, Moka collapsed on top of Tsukune.

"Lucky bastard." Naruto muttered to himself.

"Oh, Naruto." The way Kurumu was talking in a sing-song voice sent a chill up Naruto's spine. "What did Moka mean with you getting a good view and topless mermaids?" Turning around as if being made out of cogs, Naruto saw smiling, yet obviously pissed off Kurumu brandish what he dearly hoped were some overgrown fingernails. He wasn't sure what he'd done, but if there was one thing socializing with Sakura had taught him it was that if a girl had decided that you'd done something wrong, then the only thing that could stop pain from happening was a miracle.

He turned to the irate girl and started to try to calm her down. "It's nothing Kuru-chan, I promise." Then he noticed that the succubus had suddenly started to blush crimson, pretty much everywhere he could see her skin, and her eyes were riveted at his chest. "Kuru-chan, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with me?"

She didn't answer for a few moments, her eyes roving hungrily over his exposed skin. Then, almost like she forced herself to stop gorging herself on the eye-candy, she blinked and looked away. "Naruto, why aren't you healing? Eww, my clothes are all bloody. That's _it._" Her gaze snapped up to his face, although she still had a tendency to drift downwards. "You are taking me for a date this weekend, understood? And you'll be paying for _everything _I want!" Any questions?"

"Umm, well." She lifted a hand with claws the length of her underarm. "None at all!"

"Good, I'll tell you later when to pick me up and all that. For now, I think you and the others need to go to the infirmary."

While the small group made their way out of the pool area, several interested gazes followed them.

One pair of eyes seemed to be on the verge of tears, and their owner quickly and unnoticed disappeared.

Another onlooker turned to its companion and whispered something, before these too withdrew.

The last observer was staring off into space, anger and regret mingling in eyes that currently were focused somewhere else. Before leaving the scene, this one spoke to itself in a confident baritone. "Well, looks like there's more than one piece available to make this game interesting. How amusing. Stay healthy Tsukune and Naruto, I'd hate to miss killing you myself."

* * *

A/N: And cut, that's a wrap! Let's get some lunch then go over to the next scene.

Yes, I know. This has taken forever and I'm all out of real excuses except my unwillingness to start on my next chapter for UD before I'd gotten this one finished. There's just way too few good crossovers of Naruto and R+V. Well, I won't claim this is good, but it's better than nothing right? There will hopefully be enough question marks left in this chapter to make you demand answers off of me. Please use the shiny review button for those, as I'd love a bit of feedback. I promise, that first paragraph makes me sick now, what with how many times I've seen it when I've opened up the document to try and continue.

On the subject of feedback, I feel like I really need some help on the fight scenes. Please comment.

Until next time (Whenever that is, although hopefully relatively soon), ja ne.


	4. Problems of a bewitching nature

Haan: Hi all, we're back with another chapter.

Kurumu: Finally, you being such a lazyass must have made people worried.

Haan: Na, Kakashi is much worse than me.

Kakashi: You called?

Haan: No, it's alright Kakashi, I'm letting Kurumu handle the disclaming today.

Kurumu: Haan is too lazy and stupid to own either Rosario+Vampire or Naruto. Just as well really

Kakashi: Great, no need to dodge a mob of angry readers then.

Haan: Nope, I'm saving that for my next release of UD.

Kakashi: Damn.

Haan: Yup. Enjoy another chapter, and there may be notes at the bottom.

**

* * *

**

**Problems of a bewitching nature**

The day after the disturbance during the club recruitment day had the school buzzing with rumors. Naturally the truth was barely hinted at, as wild tales were spun from the on-the-spot creative thinking that was an inescapable side effect of mouth-to-mouth information sharing. Tsukune was spending the lunch break alone, but he never the less caught a lot of the gossip. Apparently Naruto had not only walked on water, he had also grown wings and flown (Which would annoy Kurumu no end when she heard about it), he'd fought against Moka, no _with _Moka. He'd killed the whole swimming club bare-handed and they were to be served the remains as a sushi buffet. Yes, the speed of the rumors was only outmatched by their lack of accuracy, and it pained Tsukune that Naruto was being talked about as some kind of monster.

He would normally have been slightly envious at all the attention the blonde was getting, but even these monsters were apparently scared of Naruto, which was just wrong. _He _had charged in to save everyone else, portraying him like this was so unfair that it made the otherwise shy and unassuming boy rather angry.

Tsukune was very surprised with the fallout from the chaos at the pool area. Or rather, the absence of fallout surprised him. He'd been expecting pointed questioning, teachers informing their classes and possibly suspended classes. Instead there had been a whole lot of nothing, not even a mention of those boys that had had _something_, Naruto had muttered about 'life-force', sucked or possibly eaten by a bunch of ravenous mermaids (Naruto called them 'Fishgirls', and Tsukune had spent almost an hour explaining mermaids and why he didn't know why they did what they did).

It was worrying to him. Apparently survival and justice were pretty much things you made for yourself by being stronger than your opposition. He'd never regretted leaving the school while he still had the chance as much as he did right then, although not only for selfish reasons. He could possibly convince some of his fellow students that certain actions were morally abhorrent, but the second someone didn't agree with him he'd be lucky to get away with his life.

"_Unless Moka or Kurumu was around. They could protect me."_ As soon as the thought came to him, he was struck with guilt and shame strong enough to quench his anger completely. Not only was he weak and practically defenseless, he'd failed to do one of the few things he could for Moka. All she had wanted was a friend to trust, to talk with and a lot of other things you did with friends. And the fact that he was human was also important. She'd told him how she had been made to feel weird and unwelcomed in the human school she had gone to as a child, and one of the best things he could do for her was to prove, again and again, the same thing he' d proven to her the first time they'd fought together.

That humans and monsters could learn to trust eachother.

"_Maybe I am nothing more than a weak human, but I can at least learn from my mistakes, and I'll never ever again make Moka cry __because I betrayed her trust.__" _His determination renewed, he could rationally understand that failing to return to Moka that time would have left her at the mercy of their despicable classmate, a troll who deeply believed that 'Might Makes Right', and had decided that a girl as beautiful as Moka should _belong_ to him and him alone. Tsukune had managed to stop him by releasing the inner Moka, and although it was hard to accept, he had to concede that Moka needed him almost as much as he needed her. Both as a friend and as a protector. If he hadn't gone back, she would most likely have been assaulted by the low-life, and that thought alone made him want to throw up.

Before he had a chance to lose his cafeteria bought lunch, a slap on his back doubled him over. If he hadn't had his hands supporting his face he would most likely have broken his nose from having his face slammed into the table.

"Yo Tsukune! How ya doing man, had a good lunch?" Tsukune turned towards the familiar voice and stared a widely grinning Naruto in the face. "That damn geezer kept talking as if he was paid by the word."

"Hey Naruto, did you get into trouble with the headmaster?"

Naruto's smile managed, against all reason, to widen a bit more. "Nothing to worry about, I'm fine. He was a bit worried about me showing off so much, but when I explained that Kurumu and Moka had also been forced to transform, he decided to lay all blame at the swimming club."

Tsukune had a very odd feeling at Naruto's statement. He was telling the truth, yet at the same time he wasn't. Tsukune was much too modest to think he had any special gifts, but he was very good at catching how other people were feeling, and when they were lying. Right now Naruto was obviously faking a smile at him, and Tsukune couldn't help but worry.

"So, did you find any club to join?"

"Well, sort of. Maybe we can talk about that later, come to my room after school's out, okay?" Naruto's eyes suddenly turned a lot more serious as his smile dropped. "We need to talk about a few things."

Before Tsukune had a chance to reply, Naruto was off again. He had to swallow a bit of anxiety at the thought of talking to the blonde later that day, in his room no less. That look that Naruto had given him was not one he'd expected from his normally so cheerful classmate.

Sighing, he stood up, cleaned away the remains of his meal and then headed off as well. Afternoon classes were about to begin.

* * *

After the final bell rang, Naruto was out of the class room almost before the ringing had stopped. Moka hadn't been to class, which wasn't surprising, and that had left the field open for Kurumu to unhindered attempt to kill Tsukune in the best way there was. She'd let him go quite quickly however, as soon as she noticed Naruto walking to school just a bit further down the path. She wasn't embarrassed at being caught with the (probable) human's head pressed into her chest, but he was apparently a lot more interesting seeing that she'd shouted his name and actually jumped him, a first in the time he'd known the succubus.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the sensation of her body pressing into his, or the unusually happy smile she got when she saw him. He just wasn't prepared to deal with the affection right now. He'd spent his whole childhood trying to hide his pain at being alone and unwanted, only finding solace from a handful of grownups and a few casual playmates. Things had slowly begun to get better once he'd managed to become a ninja, his team and the others from his graduating year starting to create bonds of friendship from the toil and danger shared on missions. He'd even managed to impress some of the shinobi from Suna, not with flashy techniques but with his dedication to his friends and village. The fact that he actually was very private with his true feelings, as well as hated being called a liar, meant that very few knew just how much he'd risked and sacrificed for his beloved Konoha.

That also meant that instead of being praised by the villagers for defeating a rampaging demon, he was forced to listen to prejudiced civilians singing the praise of his teammate, whom almost everybody seemed to think had managed to defeat Gaara. It made him despair of ever being recognized for what he could do or who he truly was. "_He did help a bit, but why does everybody always assume I'm just hiding in the background?"_

He shook himself as he took his outdoors shoes out of his locker, changed and ran back home. He'd decided to try and get to the bottom of Tsukune's species as well as what he thought of the monsters he went to school with. And then, possibly, he'd dare to trust him with some of the truth about himself.

As he ran, Naruto felt something that he hadn't felt since before going after Sasuke, and he didn't need any mirrors to know that he had a huge grin on his face.

Once he got back to his room he created a kage bunshin and set it to do his homework on monster history and Japanese. Then he unsealed the hidden cache of scrolls and picked a blank one before restoring the genjutsu. He then sat down with his back to his rolled up futon and started to write a letter to send home.

It took him the better part of an hour to write his report, adding one part that was solely for Tsunade's eyes. He kept hesitating on whether to write something to his friends, but decided to just put in a general greeting, promising more personal messages later.

He bit his thumb, using the blood as he'd been taught to power the jutsu, started a well-practiced series of seals and soon a (relatively) small toad was sitting in the middle of the room. It was orange, with dark purple markings and a blue vest on. It was also the size of a small dog.

"Yo! Aniki, how ya doing? Gotten into trouble yet?"

"Well, sort of, but nothing I can't handle. I need you to take this scroll back to Konoha for me, and be ready to take a reply back to me as well. I'll have two bags of chips waiting for you if you do."

"No chips now? Huh, okay then. Daddy says hi by the way."

"Yeah, give him my best. Later Gamakichi."

"Later!" With that the summon saluted and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Shortly after there was a knock on the door, and Naruto went to open it. His clone transformed into an extra chair when he looked at it, and then he pushed the handle down. As expected, outside was Tsukune, a nervous look on his face.

"Come in." Was all Naruto said. He kept his face carefully neutral, only listening with half an ear to the ongoing commentary provided by his resident.

"Thanks."

"Something to drink? I've gotten my hands on a small refrigerator."

"Anything with bubbles."

"Well, that's all I have anyway." With the reply, he bent over, opened the fridge and took out two cans. Tossing one to Tsukune, he cracked open the other one. The wonders of this other world amazed him, like the mini-skirts and soft drinks.

"So, you wanted to talk?" Naruto took a sip before looking over at his classmate.

"Yes. I do. You and I seem to share some common traits, and I would like to know the truth of what you are." Noticing the signs of distress, Naruto pushed on. "I talked to Moka after she ran away yesterday. She was very upset and let some things slip. Do you have any idea what those things could be?"

"I-" Tsukune was obviously shocked at the implied revelation. It was obvious to Naruto that he had no idea what interrogation technique was bring used on him. "It's better if you say it yourself, I may have misunderstood, but remember I don't like it when people lie to me."

"Fine, I guess you can be trusted, you did help us yesterday." Tsukune caved almost immediately, which made Naruto suspicious at first, but he never the less leaned in closer, eager for the truth. "I like Moka." At that unexpected reply, Naruto felt his brain make an unexpected stop, all gears grinding together and threatening to explode.

"That's not what I'm talking about!" He almost shouted. "If you try playing with me…" With that, he produced a kunai from his sleeve, making it look as if it just suddenly appeared there to the untrained civilian. "We have ways of dealing with that where I come from."

"Okay, geeze, take it easy." Tsukune was astounded by his own bravado. He'd actually tried to deflect the question without thinking about it. Why he did, well, he'd have to think about that. At any rate, he felt that he couldn't postpone the inevitable any more. He'd known that he'd get caught sooner or later. "I'm human, okay? It wasn't my idea to go here, I had no idea it was a school for monsters. Nobody else knows, so you only have me to blame for it. The girls have no idea."

Naruto felt a brief burst of satisfaction. Tsukune refused to let anyone else pay for his 'mistake', even though he'd hinted that Moka had revealed his secret. And he even had the balls to try and play around with a classmate that was already well on his way to become the bad boy of his year, even though said vandal was holding a knife.

He let a small smile grow on his lips as he replied. "You've got guts trying to protect Moka like that Tsukune. You should know a little of what I'm capable of since yesterday, and still you try to defy me. I sure hope you're not suicidal, because that would ruin my plans for today." At the end his smile had grown into a grin, while Tsukune looked both confused and worried. "Well, I won't keep this charade going any longer. You!" As he shouted the last part, he opened a channel for the Kyuubi chakra, letting his features turn a lot more animalistic, while Kyuubi herself rolled her eyes at his theatrics. The effect on Tsukune was priceless, but he didn't give him a chance to react to the suddenly oppressive atmosphere. "Are not the only human in this school."

"Huh?"

At this point Naruto couldn't take it anymore and collapsed on the floor laughing. "Oh sweet Kami that was awesome! That look on your face! Now I know why Kakashi-sensei did that! Priceless!" As Tsukune did an impressive imitation of a statue, the blonde kept howling with laughter and beating on the floor with his fist. After a little while the worst of the laughter had subsided.

"Is this what you call getting serious?" Tsukune said weakly, before trying to sit in a chair. The chair immediately transformed into Naruto.

"We're not that close bud." With a shout of surprise and fraying nerves, Tsukune jumped out of the 'chair' and turned around, suddenly facing not one but two Narutos. At that time, it was the scariest thing he'd ever seen.

"Sorry, I'll get back to studying." The clone muttered, sharing an evil grin with the original.

"Well, then. Take a seat and treat the floor like your own." Naruto was grinning widely. Tsukune was incredibly rewarding to prank. Perfect.

Stamping hard on the floor, Tsukune sat down, and absentmindedly opened the can of soda. Luckily it was facing away from him, as a burst of bubbles shot out when the chance of freedom appeared, making a mess on the wall. "What the hell are you talking about?" He said as he dragged a shaking hand through his hair. The situation was weird beyond even the standards of Yokai High. "I know for a fact that I'm the only human here, it's a school for monsters!"

"EEEEEEHHHH! Wrong answer! Tell him what he gets for that Kyuubi!" The shouted response from Naruto made Tsukune jump again, then he noticed that Naruto had his arm outstretched.

Even though Tsukune really didn't want any more surprises, he couldn't resist turning his head. Sitting just behind him was their new teacher, loosely dressed in a beautiful emerald green kimono. "Kyuubi-sensei? What are you doing here?" He wished that his voice wasn't so shrill, but at the same time he felt that the last few minutes excused his lack of manners.

"Sorry about this Tsukune-kun. I'm afraid my master has a lot of pent up frustrations to get out of his system." The sight of his teacher bowing her head demurely, and thereby accidentally (yeah, right) giving him an impressive view of her upper body, would have put any normal boy in a coma. Thankfully Tsukune had been aggressively familiarized with the female body the last few weeks, and could therefore escape with only a certain amount of light headedness, and a brief feeling that he should be having a nose-bleed, although he couldn't for the life of him understand why.

Even as the heavily confused boy tried to get his head around the rather surprising presence of one of his teachers, she looked over at Naruto. "If I may, master. I believe that Tsukune-kun is a bit too disoriented to fully appreciate your skill at bedazzling your friends." She turned to Tsukune. "You may want to get comfortable, Naruto-sama wants you to know pretty much everything."

Tsukune shrugged, indicating that he was fine where he was, and so Kyuubi began to speak. "First things first. Naruto is a human, like you. There are only two things that truly separate you, firstly, he can produce and control at type of inner energy that is known as chakra. Secondly…" She hesitated and looked toward her master, who waved her on impatiently. "Naruto is bonded to a greater daemon, a tailed one to be precise, whom due to an old promise is sworn to serve him. And, as you might have guessed, that daemon is me." Kyuubi smiled a bit. "Although I'd be grateful if you didn't confuse me with the demons that I've heard that other students think I belong to. They are ugly, almost completely controlled by their instincts and, more importantly, vastly inferior in all ways to me."

"And they're not half as humble either." Muttered Naruto, before ducking a pillow thrown at him.

"If I may continue without interruptions?" Kyuubi asked her master with a pointed look. As he nodded she carried on. "I will skip many of the details, as the bond between us is intricate, but I reside within Naruto-sama, only able to manifest in the outside world by his leave. As my presence would cause much disruption to the school as well as the monster world in general, the headmaster has provided us with a Rosario, to hold back my powers and thereby mask my existence." She paused again, measuring the effects of her words on the bewildered dark-haired boy. "Are you following me so far."

"Y-yeah, I think so."

"We won't be going anywhere for quite some time, so you can ask more questions later. There are of course other things that Naruto-sama would have you know, but I expect there is one question which needs answering right away."

Tsukune looked into the gaze of the self-professed daemon and asked that question. "Why me?"

"Yes, I would also want to know that. Master?" Kyuubi turned her gaze to her bondsmate. She would always be loyal to him, but she was curious as to his motives of entrusting a mere non-affiliated human with this information, especially after such a short time. It could well be construed as treason back in Konoha.

"Yeah, guess I have to come clean, huh? Fine. The truth is that I…shouldn't even be here. Me and Kyuubi are bonded due to what could best be described as an accident. Unfortunately the cause of that accident was someone who I believed was my friend. Now, I find myself in a new world, ordered to learn how to work with Kyuubi and get stronger." He paused, an unusual look of seriousness on his face. As he continued his gaze was focused on the floor. "I'm not sure I can do that alone though, and you and I are getting along just fine in school. Then I found out that you're human like me, trapped in an unfamiliar place. I guess I just thought we might be friends. Only this time I don't want to repeat the mistake of keeping secrets, at least those that are dangerous." He smiled bitterly. "I'm pretty sure things would have gone differently if Sasuke had known about Kyuubi before he tried to run away."

Naruto looked up after that, and found Tsukune staring right back at him, a warm smile on his face. "Hey, you know that won't be a problem! I mean, if I can play snack bag for a vampire, why not have a friend who walks around with a daemon inside him?" He furrowed his brow after that. "One question though, how old are you?"

"I'm going to be fourteen this October. Why?" Naruto was confused at the question, scrounging up his face as he attempted to guess the answer himself.

Tsukune stared at him, then shook his head. "Everyone in our class is either going to be sixteen this year or have already had their birthday. I can hardly believe that a thirteen year old went through those mermaids like that. Ithought you were maybe a year younger, being so short compared to the rest of the class, but thirteen?" Then he grinned. "You know, there are so many questions that I want to ask, so I thought I'd start with an easy one. And you say something like that as an answer. You're one surprising guy Naruto."

"Well I am the number one surprising ninja in Konoha! Believe it!"

"In spite of how corny that line was, I will. So- wait, did you say ninja?"

* * *

A few hours later Tsukune was wandering slowly back to his room. Naruto and Kyuubi-sensei had had a lot of things to tell him, and he was feeling rather overwhelmed. He was also giddy with the possibilities that he had been presented with. Apparently he could also learn how to produce and control chakra, although at levels that would best be compared to a five year old in Naruto's village. His 'coils', which were something like veins if he had understood it correctly, were very thin since he hadn't tried to work with chakra when he was younger. The most he could expect to do were some very basic techniques, or slightly enhance his body's strength and speed.

Kyuubi promised that it would still be worth the effort, especially if he ever got into trouble with humans back home. Although it would take time, he'd still grow in strength a lot faster than if he simply trained his muscles. Granted, the first phase would be frustrating in the extreme, but once he'd gotten the hang on how to produce chakra he would be able to use it to push his body further than other humans could. The idea of being able to hold his own against at least a few of the monsters in his school was very appealing, not to mention how much easier in the long run it would be to get a good physique.

Concerning the part that had his head spinning with confusion, well, having been told things that turns your entire understanding of the universe on its head and makes fun of its mother is never an easy thing to have happen to anyone. Thankfully Naruto held back on the joking once his servant (how completely weird wasn't that idea) had appeared, or 'manifested' as they called it. She apparently meant a lot to him, even though they'd only been bonded for a few months.

As for the revelations, Naruto being a ninja, his village being a ninja village, the fact that he could turn into a busty blonde girl or that he apparently came from another dimension to name a few, Tsukune felt that he'd try to sleep on it for a few days before trying to make the story make sense.

Naruto swore that he hadn't lied, nor had Kyuubi-sensei, but he did admit that there were a lot of things that he hadn't told yet. And there were also a lot of details to share. Some would come naturally while they trained in Naruto's own special training area under the school, other things would just have to come when it seemed important or natural later.

They also asked him to keep quiet for now, as Naruto wanted to reserve the right to tell those he felt could be trusted.

Heading into his room, Tsukune wondered if he'd be able to get any sleep at all that night.

* * *

"Master, are you sure that this was wise?" Naruto caught the kunai he'd been juggling by the handle, before turning his attention to Kyuubi. Tsukune had just left, convinced of the truth of what he'd been told, and confused enough to possibly mistake his own name.

"Well, what should I have done instead? Kill him because I've told him too much?" Naruto's flippant reply did not fool the redhead for a second, he knew just as well as she did that his decision to reveal so much to an outsider he barely knew was risky, if not downright foolish. If, _when, _Tsunade found out about it Kyuubi wouldn't be surprised if she came running before she'd finished hearing about it to take her errant good luck charm to task. Which would probably end with her working overtime healing whatever remained after the current Hokage had finished vent- err, educating him.

"How about settling for the information gained, use it to ensure his and Moka's loyalty and be satisfied with having increased the chances of your survival? The school might be extraordinarily good at tending to the results of this dog-eat-dog pedagogy, but that doesn't mean that you can haphazardly throw away useful allies." Kyuubi would have continued, but her master turned at her last remark, anger evident in his eyes.

"He's a friend, not an ally! I'm not going to use other people just to stay safe, nor let them fight my battles for me. Unless you want to be restricted to teaching and training, you better remember that!" Naruto wasn't quite shouting, he'd made a lot of noise earlier in the evening and didn't want any more attention drawn towards him from his neighbors. He was however speaking in a tone of voice that would not stand for objections, and Kyuubi didn't voice any.

"Yes master, I will remember that. So you will use the time we have, to train ourselves into an unstoppable juggernaut against all comers, to teach some random human from another dimension how to start using chakra? I cannot countermand your decisions and you will always get my best effort, but I must ask you to consider the priorities of your mission. Even I would prefer if we didn't have to face Hokage-sama's wrath anytime soon."

"Well, I have considered my responsibilities, and I stand by my decision. Konoha shinobi have always stood by their comrades and always promoted working in teams. As I am currently lacking a team, I'll take what comrades I can get, but I won't toss them into the deep end when things turn ugly just to save my skin." Naruto hadn't lost his serous façade since he started glaring at her, but now he let a small smile form. "Besides, if I can make at least one real friend here, it'll be worth the price I might have to pay later."

Kyuubi fought with her emotions, both to decide what they were and to keep them from betraying her as she replied. "If that is your choice, Naruto-sama, then I will do all I can to help you." She paused. "Do you want me to seduce Tsukune-kun? I'm sure I could turn him into an excellent comrade if he's enslaved by my sexual prowess." As Naruto turned an interesting shade of purple, Kyuubi idly mused that a master that was so easily embarrassed almost made up for the whole life-long servitude thing. She had little leeway in how she treated Naruto, but as he was a prankster extraordinaire, she felt that he'd appreciate her teasing. Not that she wouldn't do it if he decided that it would be a good thing, his word was her way of life, and the dark haired boy did have potential if groomed properly.

She just wished that…

"That will not be necessary you pervert! And don't go flaunting yourself to him again, the poor guy has it tough enough with Kurumu pushing herself on him, without a full blooded sex bomb like you turning his head as well." Naruto's blush intensified, as he realized just what he had said.

"Oh master, thank you!" Kyuubi pounced on her young lord, using the accidental comment as an excuse to embarrass him further, as well as getting a hug. "You make this lowly servant so happy when you compliment her like that. Would you like me to show you my gratitude?"

"Eh? No! I'm fine!"

"Aw, master, you really shouldn't be turning girls down like that you know, it makes them sad!"

"Well, you're not just any girl, and I'm only thirteen you cradle robber."

"Aw, so master doesn't want some ramen then?"

Naruto gave Kyuubi a flat look. "You're evil, you know that right?"

"Thank you master."

"Shut up and get me my food."

"Hm, now I'm confused. First master doesn't want it and then he does. Oh well." Noticing the dark look Naruto was giving her, Kyuubi decided to stop teasing for now. "By your leave master." She said, before transforming into her master and heading off to the floor's communal pentry.

Naruto shook his head, wishing that his daemon wasn't such a tease. Or that he was older, a thought he hoped wasn't his own. Then he rolled out his futon, figuring that he might as well get ready for bed while Kyuubi got him a snack. He'd promised Tsukune an introduction on chakra before classes, as the first steps would pretty much be solo training.

Changing into his sleep wear, Naruto silently hoped that he wouldn't live to regret sharing his secrets with his newfound friend and pupil.

* * *

A few days later found Naruto sparring with his servant in the warded cellar once more. They tried to keep variation in their training, sometimes fighting together against clones, sometimes against each other supported by clones and sometimes one on one. The seal was off, as Kyuubi needed to practice as well. She may be an awesomely powerful daemon, but she had just spent a few decades sealed into several different people, and therefore needed to freshen up her skills. It was also a good way for them to develop combo jutsus and attacks.

Off to one side Tsukune was sitting cross legged, meditating in an attempt to unlock his chakra. He would need to start from the very beginning, trying to feel his own body and how his chakra moved through it. It wouldn't take much once he made first contact, chakra manipulation being a completely natural process, but the road to that point was much longer than for a child being taught by trained shinobi. Naruto and Kyuubi would be there for an extra hour, as they'd been late getting to practice.

Naruto had gotten there later than usual because of his after-school activities. He had been forced to enter a club of the headmaster's choosing after failing to stop the swim-club from hurting several students - an obvious excuse which smelled bad enough to make Naruto want to hold his nose. He was now a secret member of the school Wardens, an elite rapid response team that handled a lot of human-monster conflicts, usually by going somewhere in a country called Japan and beating the snot out of a monster that had let its instincts get the better of it. They were also the headmaster's bodyguards.

He'd been told that there would be more to it though, as there were groups pushing for much less tolerant policies towards humans. Obviously the headmaster would accept challenges to the current status quo just after he'd accept Naruto coloring his school uniform orange.

Naruto had also been forcefully entered as a member of the newspaper club, the same as Tsukune, Moka and Kurumu. Kurumu had joined the club mainly to keep up the one-sided rivalry with Moka, who couldn't really understand that they were enemies, but her near ecstasy at hearing that Naruto would join the club as well wasn't missed by anyone except the blonde himself. Tsukune was relieved however, as it might give him a bit of space to get closer to Moka.

She'd come back to school after a day of absence, quickly making up with Tsukune and also making a point of thanking Naruto for the blood, as it had boosted her recovery. He'd waved it off, although he asked her not to let the other Moka out anytime soon in return, as that persona had him dreaming nightmares (Well, mostly). He didn't deny that either Moka was very beautiful, but one was pretty much addicted to Tsukune, and the other kept giving Naruto a feeling of being hunted.

Moka didn't seem to mind, and then their club president had arrived. Morioka Ginei was apparently this school's very own super pervert, as he'd barely entered the room before presenting large bouquets to the new female members. Naruto had wasted no time in making his life a living pervert hell, fooling the easily led "Gin-sempai" into all sorts of traps. The president wanted to spend the whole of the club time trying to look under the girls skirts. Instead he ended up falling out of a window (Ohh, volleyball girls having a waterfight!), jamming his hand in a door (What a draft sempai!), jamming his other hand in a drawer (Is that porn sempai?), smashing the top of his head into another drawer (Can't find it in this drawer either sempai!) and, the crowning point for Naruto's anti-pervert crusade, introducing Gin's crotch to a metal fence when trying to get into the pool area (The swim club is going skinny dipping!). It's possible that Gin had his suspicions about all the "just" missed opportunities, but his craving for female skin and flesh wouldn't let him miss any possible nakedness.

Naturally their collective dimness prevented the rest of the club from noticing anything, although Tsukune realized just what kind of person Gin was when he set Tsukune up and took snap shots of the trusting boy peeping into the girls changing room. That he'd somehow gotten pictures of Naruto wrestling with a scantily clad Kyuubi-sensei in his room, and could after a sleepless night swear that she stayed there the whole night, led to a situation during the night of the next full moon that almost sank Naruto's reporter career before he'd gotten it started.

_**School roof, two days after club selection day.**_

"Naruto! Can you explain this?" A livid Kurumu had cornered him on the roof of a school building, having just witnessed Gin get kicked through a fence, that was supposed to stop people from falling down, by Moka. Thankfully he'd been transformed, therefore surviving. Although no-one was very fond of the werewolf, they didn't want him dead either. Well, not that much anyway.

Naruto was blushing, of course. Kurumu had managed to get an impressive tear in her shirt during the fight, and was apparently unaware that she was giving Naruto a memory for life.

"Umm, photoshop? Hey!"

"Don't even try to deny it! I can't believe this!" She grabbed his head and pushed it into her generous cleavage. "She's abusing you, isn't she? She is forcing herself onto you, doing all sorts of naughty, adult things to your pure, sexy body. Is it because she's a teacher? Is she threatening you with lousy grades?" Kurumu was clearly very upset, although Naruto couldn't help wonder at the way she was panting as she talked.

"N-no! I promise, that's not it at all! She's just a friend from back home, she didn't want anyone to think that she was treating me differently so we haven't said anything about it."

"Well, what about those photos? If that's not treating you 'differently', then what is?"

"It's just for laughs! Honest! She thinks it's hilarious to tease me 'cause I'm so much younger."

"It's not a joke if it can be sold as a centerfold! She's clearly molesting you, and not even inviting me!" Kurumu's common sense, often forced to take a back seat to her feelings, finally managed to get a word in about just how much she was revealing, how it made her look, and how it was ruining her professed 'Destined Love' with Tsukune.

Tsukune, realizing that there was a small window of opportunity to stop Kurumu from learning something that was supposed to be secret, immediately threw a wrench into the conversation. "Kurumu, you do know that you doing something like that with Naruto would be against the law, right?"

"What?"

"Well, you _are _basically saying that you want to, err, get closer to Naruto. And since your sixteen, and he's only thirteen, I'm pretty sure that would be illegal, even if he'd consent."

Naruto braced himself, knowing that Mount Kurumu would most likely erupt at hearing that little tidbit of information. Putting his hands over his ears, he regretfully closed his eyes. That tear in her shirt was extremely alluring.

"WHAT?" The shouted question was echoed by Moka, but it was Kurumu that provided the larger amount of decibel. Dropping a temporarily shell shocked Naruto to the ground, she almost teleported into Tsukune's face, grabbing his jacket and demanding an explanation.

"Oh, so you didn't know? It's not exactly a secret. In Naruto's village they don't divide classes by age but by skill. That's why he's here while still so young. But don't worry Kurumu, if you wait till October he'll be fourteen, and then he can probably be forc- err, _convinced_, to do anything you want."

Kurumu visibly calmed herself, then sighed a little. "That was just a joke Tsukune, my Destined Mate. And you! Don't you dare come near me until you're legal. And stop looking so adorable!" Having said her piece, ignoring the incredulous looks she was getting, Kurumu retreated to her dorm.

"Hey Tsukune." Naruto waved his friend over.

"What Naruto?"

Leaning in close, Naruto whispered to the teen. "Do you think I should tell her that I'm considered an adult in my village ever since I became a genin?"

"Do you want to get chained to a bed and raped repeatedly?"

"Good point. Do you think I still have to take her out for that date on Sunday?"

"I think it's either going on that date, after you let her calm down and talk to her a bit, or me visiting your funeral. I know she keeps pretending to like me, but I wouldn't be surprised if she'll be crying herself to sleep tonight. She really likes you, you know."

At that, Naruto fell silent. He knew he had heard Tsukune correctly, as his bondsmate was jumping around in his head waving flags with 'Victory' written all over them. He was just completely unable to believe it. To him, having a friend was something that he'd fought for his whole life, and the idea of Kurono Kurumu, one of the school's hottest girls, caring that much about him was so far off his mental map that he'd need a galaxy atlas to find his way.

As Moka checked Tsukune over for damages, Naruto sighed and stared up at the moon. He already knew that there would be no sleep tonight, and that he'd need to talk both to Tsukune and his daemon about what had happened.

* * *

It was the next day, when the results of the first round of tests came back, that another head strong character decided to make Naruto's life and mission even more difficult. He'd done quite well, ending just above the 77 percent mark, and had felt that he'd earned some celebratory ramen for lunch. On the way to the cafeteria he'd been interrupted however.

"I love you!"

The shouted comment, coming from under a large pointed hat, caused quite the commotion. Moka had been talking civilly to a small child, and suddenly the two were hugging like nobody's business. Naruto was kind of distracted right then, arguing with Kyuubi about the pros and cons of eating ramen all the time. He did notice Moka's uncomfortable look, and once he got some informative comments from his resident, decided that he'd better intervene.

Grabbing the collar of the tiny tick, Naruto pulled the younger girl away from his classmate. "Oy!" He yelled, getting the girl's attention by pushing his face in front of her. "No pervert behavior in the halls, think about Moka's reputation you little weirdo!"

The young girl, who had introduced herself as Sendo Yukari, gave him an impressive glare. "Who are you to get between mine and Moka's love? With her body and my brains we would be invincible." Then she waved a strangely shaped piece of wood around.

As Naruto felt the air shift above his head, he moved to dodge the assault. The fact that some kind of pot had fallen from the sky made him pause, at which point Yukari got away from him. "If you try to get between me and Moka I'll make you regret it!"

"Oh, yeah, why don't you try to think about Moka's feelings first you little leech!"

"I am, she just doesn't know that she loves me beyond all else yet! We'll be doing adult things as soon as I've shown her the beauty of girl-girl love, and then we'll transform Yokai High into a paradise for young horny women!"

Tsukune, who had being fighting tooth and nail with his pride and libido to withhold from exploding at the little girl, finally decided to voice his concerns. "Um, but what if Moka doesn't return your affections?"

"Anyone trying to separate us will be punished!" Another copper tub suddenly appeared, and proceeded to hit Tsukune on the head.

"Tsukune, I've told you again and again. Practice your dodging!" Naruto's comment went unnoticed, as an irate Tsukune and an unapologetic Yukari squared off.

"Little girls should play with their equals."

"Idiots shouldn't sully genius with their presence."

"Perverts shouldn't taint the pure."

"Weaklings shouldn't hide behind the strong."

"Unpleasant people remain lonely." Tsukune was getting really mad, and unconsciously used his ability to understand people to, quite possibly, cause hurt for the first time. Yukari wasn't put down that easily though.

"That's fine by me, I've always been alone."

The young witch, having dropped yet another piece of brass on her opponent, stormed off. Naruto was torn, his friend was hurt and needed help, but that little girl was feeling the same thing that he had felt, and still did unless he was wrong.

Seeing Moka rush to Tsukune's side, Naruto looked Kurumu in the eye and nodded at the knocked out boy. The succubus reluctantly moved to help her rival, leaving Naruto free to follow the retreating witch.

He found her a few minutes later, but seeing as how she'd returned to her classroom he decided to postpone the talk they were going to have. He did spend a minute or two looking at her, noticing how she acted like she was alone in the room, and how her classmates ignored her presence. It was disturbing to him, and he resolved to see if there was a way to change that.

Sighing, mind far back and away, Naruto walked off towards his own classroom. There were a lot of similarities between her and his life, although he couldn't be positive about the reason for people to shun her. Sure, she was loud, annoying and kept making things appear from thin air and on people's heads, but was that really reason enough to threaten her or pretend she didn't exist? He'd been a master troublemaker as a child but that had never been the cause of all the resentment aimed his way.

At least she should be safe for the time being, he'd backed up Moka when she stopped a couple of boys bullying the little witch, and his reputation was already enough to at least cause some concern. He didn't necessarily like his reputation, but it was better to scare people off than having to beat them down.

* * *

After classes the next day, he headed over to a small outlying building, taking a seldom used path behind the school. He'd been ordered to check if there were news regarding an organization they were currently investigating, and the two-way communication with the investigating team was set up in the Wardens base, which was mostly hidden underground. He didn't know why he had to go and check, as it had forced him to leave classes a bit early, but the Monster in Monk's robes running the school had him by the balls. If it was decided that Naruto needed to play gofer, Naruto played gofer. At least he should be able to join the News club in time today.

As he walked, he tried to decide what to do about Yukari. The little witch had spent most of her waking hours harassing both him and Tsukune. Naruto was experienced enough to know that the little girl was just trying to grab attention, any attention, but Tsukune had never purposefully tried to harm anyone. That had led to the normally even-tempered boy to lost it and start yelling at her. Although she tried to be brave about it, Naruto had no problem seeing that Tsukune's words had hurt.

Now he had to figure out a way to reach the lonely witch before she got herself into some real trouble. According to Kurumu, who had been talking very loudly to Tsukune about the school's youngest student when she heard that Naruto was curious, the witch had been on a collision course with several students, partly because of her endless pranking and partly because of her status as a boundary being. Apparently witches were half-human, half-monster and reviled by both. That any of them were left rested solely on how powerful they were. Witches used magic, focused through various items, to control, confuse or destroy their surroundings. It was a deadly power and not one he could afford to underestimate.

He wondered at how similar their backgrounds were. In Konoha, she could have said that it was a special form of jutsu and blended right in with the crowd. Here, she was an outcast, while he could unleash a bit of demonic power at the school and most likely get away, but in Konoha he could barely move without getting a few resentful looks.

His musings were cut short when he heard a muffled scream. He wasn't absolutely sure who it could be, but thought the voice sounded feminine. And familiar. "_What a coincidence." _He thought with heavy sarcasm. Apparently his temporary leader was playing him like a chess piece.

Why he was needed to help the little witch became painfully obvious as he silently landed behind a tree. Over a dozen monsters had gathered around Yukari, growling menacingly and glaring with hate filled eyes. They were completely focused on the girl and currently debating what to do with her.

"Let's just eat her, she may not taste very well, but that's just something we'll have to endure to rid the world of this little nuisance. And without the body there will be no evidence either."

"_Well, that's presuming there aren't any witnesses, idiot." _Having heard enough a lot sooner than he'd expected, Naruto tensed as he prepared to go to Yukari's aid, when every plan he'd made was tossed out the window. Watching with disbelief, Naruto was shocked to see Tsukune rush in, closely followed by Moka.

* * *

Tsukune grunted as he took a hit to the head. "Now, repeat after me. 'I am not invincible'. Say it."

"I am not invincible. That hurt you-ow!"

"Next, 'I desperately need more training before trying to fight multiple enemies.' Say it."

"I desperately need more training before trying to fight multiple enemies."

" 'Naruto-sama is much cooler than me.'"

"Naruto-teme is a jerk-ow! Stop hitting me!"

"Why the hell should I? I was just about to take those idiots to the cleaners, when suddenly the most suicidal guy on campus decides to rush in! Couldn't you at least unleash Moka-san-" Naruto shivered, and glanced in the vampire's direction. She'd refused sealing up just yet, wanting a word with him. "-if it wouldn't trouble her too much, of course, before jumping into a fight someone like you can't survive, much less win? Is it too much to ask that you try thinking once in a fucking while-ow!"

"No swearing around a child Naruto-kun." Naruto felt a chill go up his spine, realizing that he'd somehow angered Moka and now she was standing just behind him.

"Sorry, sorry Moka-san, just trying to lecture my idiot student." Grinning as innocently as humanly possible, Naruto looked over his shoulder at her. He would have loved watching that beautiful face for a much longer time, if he wasn't so scared of her. It wasn't just the mature sexy behavior, the body fitting the former or her ability of kicking pretty much anybody's ass. No, it was the eyes, both the part that made it impossible for him to read her intentions and the color and shape, reminding him of how he was balancing on a knife's edge living at the school.

It could also be the fact that, just like him, she could turn into someone else. Someone vastly more powerful and much crueler. It reminded him too much about how he'd almost given in to the Kyuubi when he was younger, only her change wasn't permanent. It could well be that he was simply fearing something that would never happen, that the changes in personality had no bearing on how she'd react toward him, but she'd never spent even a second talking to him without giving off an aura of barely suppressed malice. The feeling of being prey toyed with by the predator wasn't helping one bit either.

"Are you trying to avoid talking to me, Naruto-kun? Are you purposefully ignoring one of the most powerful monsters in existence under the cover of lecturing?" She didn't sound angry, but she was stroking his cheek with the back of her hand, an excellent way of measuring the distance from her shoulder to his face. She'd never miss if she decided to hit him now.

"No! Why would I ever do something like that? Where did you get such a crazy idea?" Lying through his teeth, Naruto wondered how she'd managed to figure that one out already.

"And now you call me crazy." She replied with a hint of sadistic pleasure, making Naruto sweat in places he'd never sweated before. "Well, you did get between me and those low-lives, so I suppose I owe you a little something." As she leaned in, Naruto shut his eyes and braced for the bite. Instead he felt a feathery touch of something at his lips. Eyes shooting wide open, Naruto looked at Moka's face. Her eyes were closed as she enjoyed stealing a kiss from him, soft lips lightly merging with his own.

As she released him, he could only stand there in shock. "There, I also heard that you're a bit young for more, but it should be enough of a reward. In fact, I think I'm due a bit of change, it must be a bit too rewarding getting such a boon from me." Then she smiled wickedly and went for his throat.

"AHHH!"

"Does she like Naruto-sama?" Yukari asked of her shocked savior, watching as the sexy vampire drank her fill, moaning and groaning in between small sips.

"Not sure, she's always really rough feeding from him, and he's terrified of her for some reason."

"Hmm, strange. Do vampires have sex by feeding?"

"W-what?"

"Well, She does seem to enjoy Naruto-sama's blood a whole lot more than she should. Do you think we could get her to do that when we have our threesomes later?"

"Threesomes? What are you talking about?"

"Why, the beautiful love triangle that you, Moka and me are going to be living in soon. Oh, I was so touched when you rushed in to save me, taking that hit for me and sweeping me off your feet." Yukari looked at him, and for a moment Tsukune could swear she had tiny sparkling stars in her eyes.

"Um, not that I want to put you down or anything, but you're twelve."

"Yeah, but I'll grow out of it with time, and I promise not to tell the police if you want to satisfy your curiosity of the female body with me."

"How about you promise not to do anything we'd both regret until you're eighteen?"

"Aw, come on Tsukune-sempai. Don't you want to feast on the wonders of an unspoiled, petite and very willing body?"

"I'm not even gonna dignify that with a reply, now let's get Moka and Naruto out of here, I don't want to be anywhere nearby when these assholes wake up."

"Of course my love."

"Stop saying that! People are going to get ideas!"

"Okay, how about stud?"

"No way!"

"Fucking machine?"

"The hell's wrong with you? NO! Tsukune-san will be close enough."

"But not very fun."

"I've already got enough fun to last me two lifetimes."

"Ohh, you're that big?"

"What? You know, I think I'm gonna have to talk to your parents, little girls shouldn't know this much about adult things."

"So, I guess that means I can't start sneaking into your room at night?"

"Don't even think about it, now stop clinging to me, shut up and help me get them back before-"

"Tsukune-kun, here's Kurumu-chan coming to the WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT LITTLE GIRL?"

* * *

The day of Naruto's first ever date had arrived, and Naruto was silently wondering just why guys put up with it. Kurumu had spent every minute in his presence before the date giving him dirty looks, doing her level best to pretend he didn't exist and constantly harass Tsukune, embarrassing both him and Moka. He'd barely managed to ask her about the date she'd demanded from him, and she'd blushed seven shades of red before gritting out an affirmative. Then she proceeded to push Tsukune's face it her bountiful bosom again.

Then, when they finally met for the date, she'd barely said hi before pulling him off to go plundering shops for clothes. There hadn't been very much talking, but his resident had given him some tips, which would prove to give amazing results.

"Come on Naruto, keep up." Kurumu called over her shoulder. She had a bag in one hand containing a sweater, to go with the half dozen articles of clothes that Naruto was carrying for her. Since this was the first chance he had to give a response she couldn't ignore off-handedly, he decided to try Kyuubi's idea one last time.

"Sure thing Kurono-san." Naruto's voice was polite, as was his address. He'd used it before, but she'd either not heard him or just pretended that she didn't. Naruto was pissed, and almost hoped that Kurumu wouldn't acknowledge him, so he could finally vent a bit of how he felt about her actions towards him, treating him like a servant.

He was also put off by her constant hitting on Tsukune. If he was her Destined One, why bother Naruto? He didn't care whether she wanted multiple partners or not, since he barely understood the concept, but trying to pursue two rabbits at the same time usually ended with no catches made at all. And a Destined one sounded like there would only ever be one, which meant that his bond would be worthless as soon as she'd forced herself enough on Tsukune.

"Stop acting like a stranger, Naruto."

"Yes Kurono-san."

"Gah! Stop it you little runt!"

"Whatever you say Kurono-san."

"Enough!" Stopping in her tracks, Kurumu almost made Naruto walk into her back, before rounding on him with a strange gleam in her eyes. "I am sorry okay? I know I've been acting very badly towards you, but I really wasn't expecting you to be that much younger than me. It threw me off, and I've been wondering if I can trust you. I guess your patience has won over my worries. Please Naruto, can't you let my mistakes lie?"

Naruto blinked. Someone apologizing to him, except for Kyuubi who sort of had to, was pretty much unheard of. He could feel Kyuubi's disapproval at the girl, as well as her annoyance with him, and his inability to give Kurumu the finger for good. Apparently the succubus didn't match up to Kyuubi's standards, and since she was a pragmatic daemon he was forced to endure her musings on mating and the results thereof. Apparently she was worried that any offspring between her master and the busty school idol would be in danger of very low intelligence.

"And your ongoing attempts to seduce Tsukune? You're messing up his life as well you know. It isn't fair that you use him as a weapon against Moka and calling him your Destined One kind of makes it impossible to believe there could be anyone else."

Kurumu hanged her head a bit. "Yeah, I know. I'll try to leave him be."

Naruto sighed. "Fine, I guess we're friends again. Just try to control your instincts, okay?" Kyuubi rolled her eyes, sending the image of her doing it to him.

"Even when it comes to you?" Kurumu almost sounded like herself again, making Naruto more nervous than he'd been since saving Yukari.

"Heh, you really deserve your heritage, succubus."

"That's a no, isn't it?"

"No, I'm still not that trusting of you to try anything like that, and you don't want to upset baa-chan by seducing her favorite underling. She's famous for drinking too much, never winning a bet and her ability to level a building with one punch. Let's just be friends for now. It'll make surviving easier for us all." Realizing that one of the boxes in his arms was slipping, Naruto took his eyes of the seductive girl in front of him and righted the pile of purchases.

"No way." Kurumu moved quickly, taking advantage of Naruto's distraction to get inside his guard and grab his shoulders, incidentally pushing all of the packages to the ground. Then she planted a kiss on his cheek and bounced back, giggling at how he'd started blushing all over.

"I'm not going to settle for just being your friend Naruto. I may not get everything I want right now, but that simply means that I'll have to keep you interested in me until I can. I'll prove that I'm good enough for you, just wait." The succubus was smiling at him, packages and bags scattered about forgotten. He'd never seen her so intense or focused, and couldn't decide whether he was scared or impressed by her behavior. She obviously cared however, and he could feel the pull to take her, to dominate her and make her his. Then he mentally smacked Kyuubi's nose and the lewd feelings disappeared. The succubus was now very much within the standards apparently, and he wondered what it was that had made Kyuubi change her mind.

"So, wanna go eat lunch, Kuru-chan?"

His words, acknowledging her efforts, coupled with the happy and vulnerable look in his eyes were enough to set her face on fire. Trying to control her emotions (and her blush) Kurumu decided to get closer to the blonde as soon as possible. Whatever anyone might say, Naruto didn't really look all that young, he acted a lot more mature, and his power, even if it was sealed (yeah, even she had noticed that) was formidable. Telling her mother about her new-found _truer_ love would be easy, and if there were any negative comments about them not producing babies yet, she would stand against the imposing senior succubus with confidence and a law book with the part about under aged sex bookmarked and highlighted. Even her mother would have to respect her not wanting to break _that_ particular law, even if it was human law.

Snapping her gaze around, Kurumu realized that an open street filled with holiday shoppers might not be the best place to continue resolving their conflict (although Naruto had had all the resolving he could take). Smiling sweetly, Kurumu loaded up the troublesome blonde with her purchases and pulled him with her. Some lunch would be nice, and there would be plenty of time cementing her presence in his heart back at the dorms. After lunch the next stop would be her room. She might not be able to use her mind-controlling techniques on him, but she would damn well give him all he could take to prove what he meant to her. Some kissing and teasing should be okay even to him.

Both were unaware of the cold eyes watching their interactions.

* * *

A/N: Aaaand cut! Awesome, take five and then we'll shoot the next chapter.

Can you believe something messed up my first round of editing this, losing all my first notes and revisions? I hate when that happens!

I've tried to make things happen in this chapter, and happily we're getting closer to a full set of actors. I bet a few are wondering about Mizore, and she's texted me that she'd fine and will be back in short order.

I'm sure there are some things you'd like to ask. Yes, humans have chakra, all of them. No, monsters and witches don't, they have demonic energy. Yes, Tsukune will get a fair bit less useless in a fight, but it won't be easy.

Also worth mentioning is that the girls will all have a bit of feelings for both boys. It's not that their crazy (mostly) but that both boys are just that awesome. I hope, at least, that that will happen. Writing a weak Tsukune so that he can compare to Naruto isn't easy.

I'll be starting on the next update soon (possibly right away) and hopefully I'll get another chapter out faster once again. Damn my stubborness and 10k word goals.

Until next time (When- ah, you know)

Ja ne.


	5. The Art

Haan: Hello all and merry christmas... err, a few days late.

Mizore:...

Haan: What?

Mizore: Why am I not in this chapter?

Haan: Because you're sulking and think that Naruto has gotten together with scary Moka.

Mizore: Oh.

Haan: Don't worry, I'm positive you're gonna be in the next one.

Mizore: Positive?

Haan: Well, pretty sure at least.

Mizore: I thought you were the author.

Haan: Well, we'll see what the voices say, okay? And everybody, no mentioning poultry, I don't want any crazy people running amok here except me. Mizore, the disclaimer.

Mizore: Haan refutes that he could possibly be the owner of Naruto or Rosario+Vampire or Full Metal Panic or Negima blah blah blah. Because he's an idiot.

Haan: There may be cookies and notes at the bottom. And what was that?

* * *

**The art of getting spectacularly pissed off**

The days had started to develop a routine before Naruto was finally issued an order of preparation. He knew of the procedure, but had never really had to follow it, as all the missions he'd ever done had either been a request from a third party, specifying the time of departure, or an emergency response one, like the one where Sasuke went bat-shit crazy and decided to unseal him.

Now, he was sitting in a small hangar, waiting with two other temporary Wardens for the go-ahead. One of them, a dark-haired tall woman with a constantly scary glint in her eye, had given him one look when arriving, and said "Call me Mana, don't fuck up and don't die." before turning away. The other one, a dark-haired male teen of average height and a blank expression, gave him the nod of a pro to another before adding his two cents "Sagara. Pleased to meet you and what she said."

After that, he'd spent over four hours just waiting for a command that might never come. His associates spent their time studying, which kind of freaked him out. "_Will I never break free from the curse of homework?" _Any attempts at striking up a conversation had crashed and burned pitifully, as Sagara seemed hell-bent on learning some kind of history by heart and Mana spent all her time on math, although it appeared to be mostly focused on various wind-drift tables, whatever the hell that meant, and baking small cookies.

Going for broke, he decided to throw down the trump card. Any more time staring at a wall and he would cause mayhem just to relieve his boredom. "So, what kind of powers do you have?"

That question, innocent though it may seem, made both of his colleagues snap their gazes on him, homing in like sharks smelling blood. He squirmed under their scrutinizing gazes. "Oh, come on, I have no idea of what you guys can do, and my old sensei always said that teamwork is crucial to succeeding at a mission. Not to mention saving your ass."

Exchanging looks, Mana and Sagara had an understanding before replying. Sagara decided to be the bad guy. "Blondie, trying to snoop into our private data is a strict no-no on these missions. Your boss gives you the info you need, and it's up to you to deal. If that's annoying you, too bad. If you start annoying me, I'll make you feel bad." Mana simply nodded, affirming the glaring soldier's response.

"That's just bullshit, and both of you know it."

"Sorry, Naruto. That's how our contracts are designed. Both me and Sagara are merely hired help, since the usual staff is currently unavailable. While I agree with the importance of trust and cooperation, we should all be good enough to adapt to each other during the mission. That's all there is to it." Mana, picking up on Sagara's choice of role, spoke as a diplomat, trying to ease out the wrinkles from the response, while still enforcing it.

"Fine, then I'll make you a bet. If I have to come pull your asses out of the fire, you're both going to be my friends. Then you can tell me all you want about yourselves."

The two mercenaries were obviously stunned by his outburst, although most would misunderstand their concern. Sagara, while touched, went for safety first. "_Friend? Is he nuts? I have too many people wanting to hurt me to let him mark himself as a target! But maybe it could be worth it anyway?" _

Mana however, mostly due to the recent lack of decent companions of the opposite gender and the rather high-strung atmosphere in her class, found herself thinking slightly different. Although the result was pretty much the same. "_Friends? He wants to be my friend? He has the chance to take advantage of me, and he wants to be pals with me? Ohh, I bet he thinks I'm gonna get annoyed when he doesn't make a pass at me and get me to start liking him, then I'd come on to him and he'd use that as an excuse to have his way with me. I'm soooo gonna get him for that later, him and his cute scars. Ha! I'll be his friend and nothing more before I decide so myself. Haha, no one fools Tatsumiya Mana!" _

Naruto felt the rather intent gazes focused on him and simply glared back, not knowing the rather impressive chaos that had erupted in the minds of his temporary teammates.

"You're on newbie!" "Fine, if you can do it." The replies were almost simultaneous, although neither would confess to just how close the bet had cut. The blonde kid seemed pretty harmless, but that kind of challenge seemed like something the reckless kind of elite might toss out, or a total windbag. Sagara got to thinking of his usual blonde teammate, while Mana thought back to certain of her classmates. Either were oblivious and clumsy on the surface, or simply horrendously socially inept, but once you scratched ever so lightly on that surface, a lot of potential reared its head.

"Hey, Naruto. I know we said we can't be too specific, but let's keep it real simple like, and we can probably get a basic understanding of each others' fighting styles. Me, I'm best as a sniper, although I can fight pretty well at all ranges."

Once Mana opened up, even if just a sliver of a smidgen, Sagara had to support her back. "I'm a weapon specialist, preferring a shooting distance of two to twenty-five meters. I'm also competent in the use of explosives."

The kid seemed unimpressed however. Or possibly just confused.

"Um, what kind of weapons? Swords? Wire?" Both die-hard veterans felt their worlds tilt dangerously at the question. "I like to go with kunai and hand to hand, even when using my techniques I'm usually close enough to punch someone."

Wondering just what the hell a kid, younger than both him and the only female on the small team, was supposed to accomplish using fists and "techniques", Sagara answered first. "Well, I prefer a shotgun, like this one. Although I can use any kind of gun satisfactorily, I'm at my best up close and personal."

"What's a gun?"

Once again the two mercenaries felt a disturbance in the… you get the picture. Most people tend to experience something similar after talking to Naruto after a while.

"It's a… weapon that fires a lot of shrapnel, through chemicals, but usually is inaccurate at anything over a few meters. It can fire solid slugs of course and-" He was tempted to rattle of a lot of technical information, but the complete lack of understanding on the kid's face made him simplify his explanation. "It goes boom, and the enemy gets shredded. Don't stand in the way." He groaned inwardly, realizing that the light of Understanding was finally showing on his new partner's face. Sort of, at least.

"And I use a gun too, only it's for really long ranges, and I fire one bullet at a time. If we get closer I like to use revolvers or pistols." Mana tried to keep her reply short, the kid had a way of getting answers almost as terrifying as her teacher at school. Which led her to start wondering….

Naruto, meanwhile, focused on the obviously important piece of information.

"They go boom?"

"**This is Central to Team Yoko. You are hereby go for launch in five minutes. Open your briefing folder once ordered aboard the helicopter." **The message from the loud-speaker snapped the trio out of their chatting, making them quickly gather up weapons and gear before heading off for the ramp at the back of a large, matt black machine standing in the middle of the hangar's landing pad.

"_Hey Kyuubi! We're finally going!" _The gleeful mind-shout of the excited blonde made Kyuubi wish she could take a headache pill.

"_Yes Naruto-sama. I heard it too. Please don't yell at me." _As annoying as her master could be, Kyuubi couldn't help feeling a little bit happy for him. He'd been cooped up in school for too long, and she'd seen some early warning signs of him returning to pranking as a means to vent. As her master sat himself down inside the large contraption, she fervently hoped that the folder containing his orders would give Naruto something to test himself with.

Having experienced his first ever lift-off, and endured Kyuubi's pleading not to yell 'WEEEE' so loudly, Naruto was quickly becoming bored once again. Although the sound from the craft's 'engines' weren't all that loud, it was still annoying, and there weren't any windows either. To keep his nerves from getting to him, he took out a scroll he'd received via toad the evening before. He'd been loath to read it, nervous about what had been happening since he left.

Just as he was about to open the scroll, the intercom buzzed before relaying orders to begin reading through the briefing materials. Sighing, although whether with relief or irritation he couldn't tell, Naruto mimicked his new comrades and started opening his mission briefing packet. The first thing he found was a dossier on a small gang operating in a large city, apparently in this 'Japan' that he'd been told about.

The gang consisted of mostly humans, with two spider monsters as lieutenants and a werewolf leader. Their activities were mostly in the smuggling industry, although there was a possibility of slaving and various sub-activities related to that, such as organ harvesting and the making of illicit movies.

Next followed various schematics on the base of the gang, showing that the front of a movie rent out covered a large underground complex. The photos provided of the exterior gave him a chance to familiarize himself with the architecture. On the base schematics there were two floors in the interesting part, each containing two main corridors and filled with a lot of rooms. Points of entrance were a cargo lift, stairs leading down from the front store and an emergency exit as well as a reasonably large air duct.

The orders were to subdue all members of the gang, especially the werewolf leader, and rescue any present innocents. Gathering information would be handled by a clean-up crew, as well as handling any confiscated merchandise. Intel suggested that the whole gang would be present, but that could change easily enough to be considered dubious information at best. Then he read something rather troubling.

"_The handling of the leader trio must be done by Uzumaki Naruto, as he is the only one with experience of the strength of a werewolf as well as their preferred tactics. He is also the only one with the powers to fight as an equal. Operatives Mana and Sagara are to provide support, but are ordered not to engage said leaders as they are too weak to even be a nuisance and their deaths would be embarrassing."_

Nervously looking over at the other two parts of their little team, he could see both curiosity and anger reflected in the eyes of his comrades. Mostly anger. Almost only anger actually. Apparently their dossier contained the same line, and he couldn't help wonder if the headmaster really was out to get him killed. He ducked his head down, hoping to look like he was reading over the mission specifics. Then someone cracked a few knuckles.

"Naruto, we need to talk." The fact that it was a silky smooth, alluring and very feminine voice that addressed him didn't stop the shivers of apprehension from going up his back. Apparently, he reflected as two menacing shadows closed in on him, the whole 'no-asking-about-personal-details' didn't come with a complementary clause on 'no-scaring-the-crap-out-of-your-team-mate'.

* * *

While Naruto experienced how scary two professional mercenaries that had just had their pride wounded could be, Tsukune was trying hard not to sigh. His most dependable, if constantly sugar-rushed/ADHD-challenged, friend had been called away on something that nobody seemed to know about, and the one person he figured might have told him more about the blonde's whereabouts was also away, meaning that they had had a substitute teacher during P.E and that there was no-one to talk to about his current problem. All others that he might consider confiding to were girls, and he just didn't want to discuss matters that related to his feelings with them. At least not when the feelings concerned Moka. Kurumu just might start up her whole 'Destined One' obsession, even though she'd sworn off it to Naruto, and Yukari couldn't be trusted to keep anything he said to herself, as she might decide that she could speed up her happy love-triangle by telling Moka.

The thing that was bothering him? His birthday, or rather, whether to tell Moka about it or not. She might already know, of course, but she also might not. If she did, she had probably gotten him a gift. That was reasonable wasn't it? Yeah, she almost certainly had, he was sure of it. Mostly. Pretty sure at least. He didn't want to think that it would bother him whether she gave him a present or not, but at the same time he couldn't shake a foreboding that it would. Although they hadn't spent all that much time together at the school yet, their repeated struggles to survive had made the bond between them grow incredibly fast. That they also matched very well socially in between the recurring death matches didn't exactly harm their developing feelings for each other.

They'd be sending off their first real newspaper for printing in the afternoon, but Moka had excused herself, claiming that extra assignments was keeping her busy. Tsukune had been too busy for the last few days to think too much on it, as he both had club time, school work and training to hold his attention. It had taken a few days to realize that she was keeping a distance to him.

And now he was stuck in the kind of funk that could defeat any plan before it was even tested. Over thinking has indeed killed more romances than bad breath.

If Naruto was there it wouldn't have been so much of a problem, the loud mouth would either have encouraged Tsukune to have faith in himself (Probably through mild violence) and the beautiful girl, asked her directly if she knew about it or both. Although Moka and Naruto clearly had a budding friendship between them, there was nothing in the way of romantic feelings. Naruto had been adamant that he drew enough attention and trouble as it was, without trying to steal away his friend's crush. Not to mention that there was the _other _Moka to consider.

Letting his thought wander from his own problems for a bit, Tsukune reflected that Naruto sure was a strange guy. He was hands down the most popular boy among the first years, his positive and friendly character, lack of shame and impressive physical prowess combining to impress most of his peers. He was also a bit mysterious and dangerous, his fights and strange appearance causing rumors to fly about the 'blond guy with facial markings'. The few that knew what it was had also been giving the Rosario around his neck meaningful looks.

Tsukune had seen him without it, and was grateful that Naruto wore it in public. The first time he took it off Tsukune had nearly had a heart attack. Anything that Moka could produce was topped by a factor of three easily just by releasing the Daemon inside Naruto. And it grew worse when he actively focused himself on an enemy. Although something told him that once the initial shock wore off, the blonde would most likely be even more popular if he ever did release outside of his special chamber.

According to Moka the only reason that he hadn't been flooded with confessions yet was that he hung out with Kurumu, herself and Kyuubi-sensei. Kurumu guarded her property vigorously, if only by constantly groping the younger teen, hugging him publicly or confessing loudly in the school cafeteria several times a day. As for Moka, many hoped for a love triangle involving Moka, Naruto and Tsukune as the school lacked any TVs and thus the day time dramas that many craved. Lastly, Kyuubi-sensei had a way of staring at Naruto's admirers that made them hesitant to approach him. The description was of being measured, weighed and graded by a task-mistress from hell.

Moka had remarked that it almost sounded as if Kyuubi-sensei were deciding which of the girls could try to get close to the unknowing blonde. Tsukune had nearly swallowed his tongue at her comment. That Naruto's servant was so protective of him was a bit startling. Why would she be bothered by what kind of girls he got involved with? And how had Kurumu passed the testing?

Realizing that he had entered some really scary waters, Tsukune tried to think about something else. "_Like Kyuubi-sensei getting out of the pool after one of the training sessions._ _Gah! Bad thought, think of Moka. Mmm, that's much better._" Letting his mind rest on the enticing body of Moka soon had Tsukune back at the original problem. Berating himself for being a coward, he decided that he would ask her at the first opportune moment. If she didn't know she'd probably be disappointed that he hadn't told her, and if Naruto heard that he'd chickened out there would be hell to pay. As soon as they were alone he'd talk to her about it.

That such a moment wasn't going to come around for a while was nothing he could have known.

* * *

Standing in a high-class hotel room, Naruto looked out the window and stared at their objective. They been dropped off just outside the, in his mind, freakishly huge city and then driven to their temporary headquarters, an unusually large hotel apartment in the center of the city. They were to go in somewhere around four in the morning, leaving plenty of time to get used to the strange technology that was being employed. The bus that he had gotten to Yokai High in the first place was only an example of how differently people employed technology in this world. He'd spent over an hour getting used to the idea of cars, as well as their many different shapes and forms.

Well, first off he'd lain shivering on the floor for half an hour, trying to forget how his 'comrades' had tied him to a line by his feet from the helicopter and let him hang there while the pilot low sniffed the woods they were flying over. When they finally pulled them in he'd been torn between the elation of the ride and the panic he'd felt whenever they came across a hill or a particularly tall tree.

Then, after he'd spent some time learning about just how different a world not run by chakra and shinobi was, he'd gone over the materials again, memorizing layouts and believed number of hostiles, as well as known personal information on various gang members. Once the numbers and words started to look hostile to his overworked brain, he decided that that would be enough and took to meditating. The fact that he and Kyuubi sat down for a round of poker in his mindscape never showed on his apparently calm face.

Of course, they didn't just play cards, and even though Kyuubi somehow got Naruto into a game of strip poker, before losing spectacularly (They had never played with anything except token chips before. Poor Kyuubi.), they still managed to go over a lot of different scenarios and plans concerning the mission. They didn't agree on everything, but after forty minutes of meditation, which translated into a lot more time inside Naruto's head, Naruto got up and went to the door leading outside.

"I'm just gonna go grab some supplies, want anything?"

"The latest issue of Guns and Ammo if they have it." Mana replied without looking up from the large rifle she was currently cleaning. Sagara however did glance up from his homework before speaking. "I'll have some pocky, and a couple of sodas if you please."

"Right right, just a second." With that Naruto stepped outside, created a few clones whom immediately transformed into various disguises before heading back in. Some of the clones were to pick up the snacks and stuff, the others were to infiltrate the base.

As he entered the room again, his teammates looked up, confusion barely hidden on their stoic faces.

"What, did you forget something?" That Naruto had gotten under Mana's skin was obvious from the derogatory tone of voice. Naruto didn't let her get to him, being used to far worse and recognizing the potential of converting another friend. That princess from the Land of Snow, or should it be Spring now? Anyway, she'd been a lot less friendly than Mana was, and he had a photo as proof of how good he was at melting cold hearts.

Giving her his best I'm-holding-back-information-on-you-and-laughing-in-my-mind-about-it-smile, Naruto replied "No, the stuff should be over in just a little while." before walking over to the window again. A couple entered the store just a short while later. Although he didn't show it, Naruto waited nervously until the couple reemerged again, the woman stopping to adjust her shoe before they walked off. After that he slowly released a breath. Knowing that a small army of transformed shadow clones would be moving into the target area, learning all he'd need and keeping the enemies under surveillance. They were to disperse one or two at every few minutes, avoiding a sudden rush of memories to handle.

Smirking slightly Naruto left the window and tossed himself onto a bed. The first memories would be the most disorienting as he'd have to take in how the base looked. Once he knew that his mind could ignore such information from subsequent clones and focus on the important stuff. Settling in to wait, he put his hands behind his head and let his legs stretch.

It only took a few minutes before his other clones returned with the supplies. Mana and Sagara both reacted with surprising speed when there was a knock on the door, but Naruto still beat them to answer it. Then he got to enjoy their faces as half-a-dozen clones marched in and dumped enough snacks, drinks, magazines and ramen take-out to keep a modest all-girl slumber party happy. As long as they read Soldiers of Fortune that is. That the clones were still disguised gave an extra level of confusion to his comrades' expression, intensifying when they changed back to their original-copy form (Yeah, love those oxymorons), waved at the two mercenaries then dispersed.

After a few moments of trying to figure out just what the hell was going on, Mana and Sagara turned their stunned gazes to Naruto, wondering just what the hell was going on. The fact that Naruto was digging into his second bowl of ramen at that point did not in any way help.

Sending off a grin to make any Cheshire cat proud, Naruto couldn't help needling his would-be friends."What, is there something you want to ask me? Remember that we're not supposed to ask about personal information. I'd love to tell you, but I know how much you value those rules." He held out a bowl. "Ramen anyone?"

* * *

While Mana and Sagara went back to whiling away the time, Naruto stuffed himself before settling in, waiting for the first clones to disperse. He didn't have to wait long, as images of the stores interior and the underground base started to filter into his mind. The store was unimportant, one slightly seedy looking guy at the counter and two surveillance cameras. Easy to handle.

The cargo lift exited in a garage at the back of the store, and he reasoned that it could be easily disabled by a few clones. The emergency exit would probably need to be watched by a few clones until after the operation was done, but could also be blocked if needed. He was tempted to get Sagara to take that route as it would be less well defended.

The air duct was a no-go, several fans and grills making the going all but impossible. His clones could transform into almost anything with ease, but he himself had to try and keep his mass and volume roughly the same.

The first floor of the hidden base checked out pretty well with the schematics they had been given, and seemed to be where the perps spent most of their time. There was a small kitchenette, a common area with a bar, a few dirty toilets and some bed rooms. The smell from inside those, along with the stains told him a lot more than he wanted to know about both the activities performed and the general hygiene off the performers. The blood he found traces off did help him fight down his urge to be gentle.

When the images seeped in from the second level, those urges disappeared completely, and he had to fight with himself not to rush over and tear the place apart with his own hands.

The images were bad. One corridor had been converted into a storage area, filled with contraband. The second corridor was lined on each side with cells, and ended in a door that led to a studio. The cells were open, covered in old fashioned bar doors, and contained a bed, a bucket and chains. He'd seen eight occupants, six girls spanning the ages from ten up to seventeen or so. There were also two small boys, possibly brothers. The studio contained a few cameras, a rather disgusting bed and an assortment of devices with shackles and other things that he tried not to wonder too much about. The whips and other things were easier to understand, but not accept.

The thing that drove him into a state of near berserker rage was not, however, the things his clones had seen for him. It was the smell. A stomach turning combination of filth, human fluids and desperation assaulted his nostrils, touching off on instincts that he didn't even know he had.

He recognized their feelings all too well. Hopelessness, loneliness and fear was resonating with those of his memory. Not so long ago he'd felt the same daily, trapped in a different cage but trapped all the same. The idea that someone had done something similar to those kids, for reasons too disgusting to even contemplate, made him want to kill, destroy and possibly set something on fire on the way out. Just as a signal of just how upset he was.

It took him a few minutes to get himself under control, snippets of information filing into his mental map almost reflexively. Then he once again started to concentrate, letting the details flesh out the plans he'd already thought out. All the while his servant murmured soothingly, giving advice and instructions.

When the digital alarm clock showed half past two in the morning, all the important targets had entered the building. Knowing that the vermin would be using their living merchandise as a part of some kind of celebration, he got off the bed. It was time to exercise some of his pent up emotions.

* * *

Sagara and Mana had started to object when he told them it was time to move out. When he explained that he'd already infiltrated the complex and used a blueprint to explain the new layout and his plan, as well as what was about to occur, the two mercenaries shut up with their objections and concentrated on getting the plan down. Naruto's abilities were briefly touched on, but there was little questioning from the two veterans. Both had, in their own way, seen or even done things at least as outlandish as an ability to create shape shifting copies of oneself.

They'd had another round of debate when Kyuubi manifested as a small fox before climbing onto his shoulder and wrapping her tails across his throat, mouth and nose. He'd had to explain that unless the smell was blocked out, he just might lose control of his actions, and they were supposed to take prisoners.

Crossing the street, the team made their way to their respective starting points. Mana and Naruto entered the store hand in hand, giving the casual observer an impression of an older teenage girl with her young brother. Mana might be fifteen, but she didn't seem like it anywhere Naruto looked. Sagara was heading for the back door to meet up with a few clones and prepare to open a second front on their little war.

A little extra piece of luck was the lowlife behind the counter, who for some reason decided to add to their number of slaves and tried to lure them into captivity with a promise of an awesome special film. As soon as two of his friends appeared he prepared to drop his rehearsed line referring to how they were going to star in the movie themselves, when darkness enveloped him courtesy of Naruto's vengeful hands.

"Go! Go! Go!" The command was shouted by Mana, as the tall girl dropped the two visible enemies with rubber bullets to the heads. Even as the two crashed through the main entrance Naruto's clones had started to work. Three perps were down in the main common room, two leaking blood from where kunai had lodged themselves in arms and legs. Another three were struggling to defend themselves against a squad of clones. The joy on the clones faces would be terrible to behold, if one did not know what they had been forced to experience while waiting.

One of the girls was on the ground, a tray on the ground with spilled drinks betraying one of her temporary duties. Her lack of clothes from the waist down gave away the other one, and Naruto realized that the memories from this last batch of clones would be particularly vile.

Adding his own war cry to the confusion he heedlessly threw himself towards the swirling mêlée, closing the distance in what must have seemed absurdly fast. Even as his kick connected with a head, another one went down to Mana's guns. The last one tried to pull a weapon of his and was swiftly rewarded with a violent beat down at the hands of Naruto's clones.

"What the hell-!" The yelled question was silenced quickly, and Naruto looked along a corridor to see a large thug go down, just outside a newly opened door, courtesy of Mana's lightning fast reflexes. Another door opened, and a clone almost lost its short life when it dragged out a knocked out perp from one of the small bedrooms.

"There's a girl in here too boss, she needs help."

"Right, you come with me, you three check the other rooms here and you guys follow Mana-chan and check the other corridor." Having ordered his clones he rushed to the door, thankful of Kyuubi's tails. He really didn't want to smell anymore than he already had.

Inside there was a rather tall, dark haired girl, pale skin smooth under the harsh glare of the light tubes. She was obviously beautiful, a few years older than Naruto and stark naked. The girl had been abused, even he could tell that, but apart from a split lip and some bruises there was little he could see in terms of physical damage.

"_Kyuubi, please check on her_."

"_Yes master." _The small fox leapt down before transforming into her human form. Kneeling beside the girl she started examining her, checking her pulse and such. When she carefully spread the girls legs Naruto turned around so fast his head almost unscrewed itself.

"Guard her and the other girl." He ordered curtly to the waiting clones. Then he proceeded to the common room again, waiting for Mana to join him. A few seconds later the duo began their descent down the stairs to the second level.

Here the clones had gotten most of the job done, a few more humans and several pieces of the spider monsters showing that the fight had been brutal. Then they heard a howl coming from the slave pens, and with his heart suddenly heading towards his mouth Naruto rushed towards what could only be his main target.

Rounding a corner he could see Sagara doing his best to support the remaining clones, firing round after round at the now transforming werewolf. He'd entered through the studio a few seconds after the raid started, and Naruto could see a small shape curled up inside on the floor just inside the studio door.

He could also smell the pens in all of its unfiltered twisted glory, and realized that he was going to enjoy this.

"YOU BASTARDS! I'M GUNNA-OW!" As the werewolf started telling his newfound enemies exactly what he was going to do to them, Sagara got in a crack shot. Literally.

"MY ASS! YOU SHOT MY **ASS YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I'LL KILL YOU!"**

"Not today you ain't!" Naruto yelled in reply, before once more diving into the fray, a Rasengan swirling in his hands. As he closed in Mana started laying down a barrage of bullets to complement Sagara's boom stick. Although most of the clones had been dispersed by now, Naruto and Mana's inclusion in the fight quickly started to tell, as Naruto drove the monster into a corner. His Rasengan had managed to carve a chunk out of the werewolf's shoulder, but the damage had barely slowed the drooling monster down.

Growing tired of the healing abilities of his adversary he drew two kunai from inside his school uniform jacket and, once the werewolf's attention was taken by another incoming salvo, ducked down and cut but hamstrings.

As the leader of the trafficking cell went down, crying in intense agony, Naruto laid in for real. The smell and the adrenaline coursing through his body had been eroding his self control, and now he started hammering home punches and slashes, orange chakra enhancing the claws that started to grow from his fingers. It was all instinct now, a mindless hammering on a foe that soon was unable to defend himself, and shortly after drifted into oblivion. Before Naruto did something he'd have cause to regret Kyuubi was there. Tackling him to the ground and covering his nose, she managed to snap him out of his rage.

"_Master, control yourself, please!"_

"_Kyuubi? What happened?"_

"_You went berserk. It's alright master, the smells here could drive anyone crazy. Easy now, I'll come back inside and help you stay calm."_

Feeling his bondsmate return to her abode, Naruto started to pick himself up. The first attempt landed him on his face, and Mana quickly moved over to help him up. By then he was grateful for the assistance.

"Hey Naruto, are you okay?" Mana asked, concern slight but noticeable in her voice as she helped steady her suddenly fatigued teammate.

"Um, yeah, I guess. Well, except for the memories." Naruto's reply was hard to hear. He was mumbling and slurring slightly. Considering how filled with energy he'd been for almost a full day, the change was disconcerting. Leading him up the stairs again, Mana let him sink down on a couch to rest.

A few minutes later, footsteps approached.

"Um, boss?" One of the clones addressed.

"Yeah? Oh, the light is all sparkly. Report You two."

The clone, ignoring the fact that he was alone, started to do just that."All of the bastards are alive and unwell, and we're getting the, you know, kids and so on bundled up and out of here. Sagara's gone to call in clean up and a transport and Mana's keeping an eye on the perps. There's a problem though."

"What?"

"One of the men downstairs? That was going to, err, 'help' make a movie? He's apparently a local big wig with the police."

"Well, fuck me."

"No boss, we already decided not to do that, the memory clash might make us even crazier."

"Just an expression, What do the others think."

"Mana and Sagara are all for slitting the throats of as many as we can get away with and bring the rest back for interrogation. The real problem is that if one power player is bent, others can be too. Mana thinks that the unwilling actors might end up in an accident if we drop them off here."

"And the alternatives are?"

"They couldn't think of any, and us clones reckon that's a shitty idea. We saved them, we have to take care of them."

"Of course we do. Are any of them locals?"

"No, Mana says they're mostly from another country, and the two boys are actually from another world."

"Well, that makes it both easier and harder."

"So we bring them with us-"

"Which means a lot of hard questions to answer-"

"And dump the kids in the creepy guy's lap-"

"Making them his problem instead of ours, which is both easier and better for them."

"I like how we think boss."

"Yeah, me too. Go inform Mana and Sagara and get an E.T.A. on that transport. I'm seeing spots again."

"Sure thing boss."

As the clone walked off, Naruto let his head fall back again. Kyuubi had told him that he'd get back to normal soon, but the overload from all those memories that she'd held back during the fighting was not easy to handle. There were literally days of really nervous memories to accommodate, and they were a lot more difficult to process than what he got from training. It was especially hard to see what those creeps did to their prisoners.

Closing his eyes, Naruto focused on healing his mind while waiting for the next phase of their mission.

* * *

"Tsukune, where's Naruto-kun?"

Tsukune turned his head and looked at his former admirer. "I don't know Kurumu-san, he's been gone for at least two days now."

"Gone? What do you mean, gone? Isn't he in his room or something?" Kurumu seemed alarmed, and her steadily rising voice was obviously not well received inside the school's library. Deciding to get out before they drew unwanted attention, Tsukune motioned for her to follow him and headed for the doors.

Once outside, he replied to her question. "No, he said that there was something he had to take care of and that he'd try to make it back to celebrate my birthday, but that's all."

"So he's not sick?" The busty succubus asked, apparently not quite able to believe that her newest interest had suddenly disappeared.

"No, he's left the school, with the Headmaster's permission. I'm sure he'll be back soon though."

"_Damn, there went my changing-the-clothes-of-the-hot-guy-while-his-sick fantasy. And I even ordered a 'Naughty Nurse' uniform just in case."_

"Anyway, I'm gonna go check on Moka-san. She said she'd go to the Arts department again."

Kurumu didn't wince, to her own surprise, and instead nodded slowly. "Good, see if you can get her back to the club room, I don't want my rival to get away with slacking." With a halfhearted wink and showing of leg, she headed off towards the meeting room of the Newspaper club. She was distracted, worrying about what Naruto was doing, and with whom. It therefore took her almost the entire walk to her destination before she realized that she hadn't let Tsukune see her panties. When she did realize that, she was even more surprised when she found that it didn't really bother her. Wasn't he her Destined One? Hadn't she been throwing her body at him to show how important he was to her?

Stopping outside the door to the club room, Kurumu for once spent some time reflecting on the last few weeks. When she thought about it, she remembered that she hadn't really tried to do anything to Tsukune since her date with Naruto. That was odd, seeing as how she couldn't really understand why she'd asked him out in the first place. Sure, she'd rationalized it with her wanting to test dating for a bit, and also get back at that adorable little boy for not telling her about how old he really was. She could have become a child molester without even knowing it unless it had slipped out on that roof.

Yes, that would have been bad, taking him to her bed, ravishing his still clothed form with her eyes, letting her hands roam all over those pleasantly toned arms, stripping him while he begged-

Kurumu suddenly snapped out of her thoughts, realizing just what she was doing. Looking around, she relaxed slightly upon seeing that the hallway was empty. No one had seen her start to blush, heard her panting breaths or smelled how excited she'd made herself just by thinking about that early developed boy, how his eyes would write a tale that could fill a book about the shameful pleasure he'd feel as she-

"_Oh Kami, I'm doing it again! Oh, what is wrong with me, I'm fantasizing about a child. I'm a pervert!"_

As her newfound revelation settled within her, she tried desperately to come to grips with what she had been thinking. It was absolutely against her nature to do something like that. She was a succubus, _she _was supposed to make others degrade themselves for her sake, not the other way around. Her mother had told her that the only person a succubus would ever bow to in any way was their Destined One. And suddenly she wanted to rape a young boy. Why? When Tsukune was her destined one, all she did was flaunt herself at him, believing that as soon as he saw how much better she was than all others he'd come to her by himself.

"_When he was? Since when did I start to think of Tsukune as something that isn't anymore?"_ The thought brought the young monster up short. _If_, and it was a huge if, Naruto was her Destined One, that meant that her destiny had somehow changed. But how was that possible? And why him?

Kurumu felt her head starting to hurt with all the questions, and settled for considering what the change would mean. It explained her sudden exploration of a taboo sexual preference at least. A succubus would always seek to mate the object of her true desire if they were able to. That Naruto was able to was made blatantly apparent by her sudden fantasies. Her thoughts on Tsukune had been a lot like them, although there had been a lot less force involved. That was probably related to the age difference, although it could also be a bit of a warning. He was not at all shy like Tsukune was after all. Maybe that's why she was suddenly feeling so rushed. Maybe whatever part of her it was that controlled her reactions to her Destined One had understood that Naruto could well be taken unless she moved quickly.

Or it might just be a reaction to what she remembered of his naked chest. A thirteen year old should not have those kind of muscles on him. It wasn't that he was particularly buff. Rather his body was lean, strung with tight muscles more geared towards acrobatic maneuvers and endurance rather than raw power. That he could produce an impressive amount of strength anyway must have something to do with his race.

Which was another puzzle for her to worry about. Neither Tsukune nor Naruto had revealed their lineage, and although there was an old saying about power and beauty going hand in hand, she could never believe that Tsukune's shape was any less handsome than his human one. As for Naruto, if his human shape and the power he'd displayed in it were any clues, there would be a monster version of Adonis hiding behind that seal, and once she started thinking about it Kurumu could barely stop herself from taking some private time in the girls' room.

Pushing her desires away was hard, but she managed to get herself under control for long enough to enter the club room. Soon she was distracted with work, as the new edition had been printed and was ready for distribution.

* * *

Naruto was dead tired. The aftermath of their operation had been a lot of waiting and tense guarding. All humans had been taken care of by special army units called in by the Headmaster's contacts in Japan's military. The three monsters had been taken by Wardens heading back from their own mission.

That left looking after the civilians. Most were apparently foreigners, as the exotic often netted a higher price. He had to hold himself back from spitting learning that. Treating people as commodities were one of the things that could get him in the mood to hurt someone real quick.

The girls had been abused to varying degrees, although the girl they'd found naked inside one of the bedrooms had mercifully not been violated like that. They had gotten there in time to save at least one of them from that. Kyuubi had done examinations of all the ex-slaves and had except for the girl with the long dark hair only commented that if she'd known exactly what had already happened there would have been a lot more blood. Naruto, having processed the memories by then, agreed.

They had retreated to their hotel room for now, the trio refusing to return to base without their charges coming with them. The small time they'd already spent caring for the freed captives had already lodged them as the only safe and trustworthy people to be around, and Naruto had been very firm with his preparedness to personally rip off limbs if anyone tried to separate him from his charges.

Both Mana and Sagara had cautioned him that it was highly unprofessional to get too attached to the civilians, but when his reply had been a simple "So?" They had simply smiled and nodded. Although some of the girls had been scared of Naruto and Sagara, their fellow victims had soon convinced them to let at least these two males in close. Naruto's heart had been breaking almost continuously during that discussion, as the raw emotions that filled the room told him more than he ever wanted to know about how badly wounded they had been.

He'd known about slavery of course, and his early life, growing up alone in an apartment building located near the red light district had taught him much about the cruelty people could inflict on each other. That was still nowhere near what he'd had to face the last few hours.

Thinking about it, he could feel the rage starting to build again.

Deciding to get some air he headed for the roof. Sagara was on guard, while Mana was holding one of the girls. They'd all been forced to comfort some of the civilians, but most were currently asleep, or at least faking it well.

Climbing the last set of stairs, he felt Kyuubi reach out to him.

"_I am sorry that you had to see this master, I had no idea that the mission would be of this nature."_

"_I know Kyuu-chan. I just need some time to think, then I'll be okay. I've always known that I would end up learning about this if I wanted to be a ninja. Still…"_

"_I know master." _For a short while, they shared his eyes to look at the skyline. A rain storm had moved in during the early hours, and the wetness falling from the sky fitted Naruto's mood perfectly.

"_Kyuu-chan?"_

"_Yes master?"_

"_When we get back to Konoha, and I'm made Hokage, I swear that we'll fight this evil forever."_

"_Yes master. Forever."_

"_We'll have to get rid of Akatsuki and all that too."_

"_Yes master, it will also be done."_

"_You know, for a demon you're acting like this affected you a lot."_

"_Daemon, master, and daemons must not be evil to cause damage. I may be a trickster, and an implacable foe when roused, unforgiving and vindictive. However I have my pride, and doing anything that might relate to what those vile men were doing would never cross my mind. Also, us bonding is affecting me a bit. Your concern, compassion and love for those poor children is something I cannot ignore, even though I must admit to wanting to look the other way. Your way of staring the pain and hurt straight in the face is very impressive and commendable, but it also tears at my soul. What we're forced to face is the truly perverted acts of evil men, and it's difficult for me not to add my rage to yours."_

"_Then let us pledge to make the world a better place, if necessary one person at a time."_

"_And if that can only be accomplished by death?"_

"_I have yet to give up on anyone, but if it becomes necessary, it will be done."_

"_Yes master. It will."_

After that, they spent some time just staring at the scenery, before Naruto decided that he'd been depressed for long enough. No-smiles would probably want to be relieved anyway.

Heading back down, he reflected on how his relationship had changed with his team mates. There had been a lot to do, but once there was a semblance of order in the now crowded hotel room, the three had gathered for an impromptu meeting while Kyuubi stayed with the civilians.

* * *

"_Well, we did it."_

"_Yeah. Against all odds I must say, that strike would have been a nightmare without your clones Naruto."_

"_Heh, thanks Mana-chan."_

"_Oh? Is someone getting ahead of themselves here?"_

"_What?"_

"_Since when did you get to be close to me?"_

"_Oh sorry, guess I lost that bet huh."_

"_No, to be fair I believe you did pull our asses out of the fire even before we went into the building. Our information was flawed enough to make success uncertain. I will certainly be proud to call you friend from now on, Naru-gaki."_

"_Heh, yeah, if we get to call him that, I think I can agree No-smiles."_

"_Hey, since when did we start making up names for each other?"_

"_Since right now."_

"_Well, damn, so what do we call you? Oh wait, I think I know. You're gonna have to be Hot-stuff."_

"_What?"_

"_Well, I saw the heat rising from your guns after the fight. Those babies obviously get real hot during battle."_

"_I would never have thought you were such a pervert Naruto."_

"_What? Those revovels or whatever where smoking, I saw it myself."_

"_Oh, you meant my revolvers. Well that's fine I guess, Naru-gaki."_

"_What else would I mean?"_

"_Never mind Naru-gaki, I don't think you want to make Hot-stuff explain herself. I know Chidori always gets mad when I do."_

"_Okay. Who's chidori?"_

"_A girl in my class back home. I have a long term mission as her bodyguard."_

"_Huh, back home it's the name of an assassination technique. It's not very quiet, but if it hits it's a one-hit killer."_

"_Well, that could work as a description of her as well."_

"_Wonder what she'd say if she heard that you thought about her like that No-smiles."_

"_Please Hot-stuff, do not even joke about it. She is seriously scary and gets angry quite easily."_

"_Hmmm, sounds like a girl in my class. Maybe you could come and visit some day and see if they're alike."_

"_I'm sure it would be enjoyable."_

"_Well, it is an all-girl class, so I bet. Especially for our little pervert here."_

"_Hey! I'm not a pervert!"_

_

* * *

_The bantering had helped. It was obvious that all three had been affected by what had been going on in that basement of horror, and they needed something to help them focus. Bickering about inconsequential things was an excellent way to distract themselves.

"Hey No-smiles, want a break?"

"No, I'm fine. They don't really connect to me like they do to you anyway. That Ruby girl wanted to talk to you by the way."

"Again huh. Fine, we'll talk in a bit."

Heading into the large living room, he quickly located the girl with the long, black hair and the almost painfully pretty face. Every time he saw those marks on that face he had to fight down an urge to hurt someone. His anger wouldn't help her in any way whatsoever, so he swallowed it and focused on her.

"Hey Ruby-san." He said quietly, addressing the back of the girl who obviously wasn't very good at faking her sleep.

"Naruto-sama." Her reply was quiet, yet he couldn't help being slightly taken by it. She had a beautiful voice.

"Hey, I've told you Naruto is fine, I'm nothing special."

"Please, Naruto-sama, don't joke with me. May I ask for a minute of your time where we can be alone?"

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Yes, I trust Naruto-sama with my life."

"Very well, follow me." Standing up, he caught Mana's eye and tapped his throat mic. Someone should monitor what happened after all, the possibility of something going wrong when it was just him and one of the girls was not worth taking. Having Mana as a witness would help clear up any misunderstandings.

Walking out of the room, he led her to one of the bed rooms that was currently unused, since the kitchen didn't have a door. He let her in and closed the door softly. Whatever happened next, he was certain that it would be painful for them both, both Kyuubi had said that it would help to talk now in the long run.

"Well, then, Ruby. What is it?" He asked, activating his mic.

"I would like to pledge my heart, body and soul to you Naruto-sama."

"….What?"

* * *

"Moka!" Tsukune suddenly sat up straight, a shout bursting from his lips. Looking around he saw an empty chair next to him, looked out the window seeing that the sun was up. Then he heard a familiar voice calling his name and felt an equally familiar pair of slender arms hugging him.

"Tsukune, thank Kami you're okay!"

"Moka-san, what happened? I was turning to stone-"

"Yes, but when Ishigami-sensei was defeated, the petrification effect was reversed as well." Moka replied, seating herself on the bed.

"So, all those girls-"

"Are just fine. Thanks for saving me Tsukune." Moka smiled at him, making the young human feel extremely happy and awkward at the same time.

"Ah, well, you know, it was nothing really." He replied, scratching the back of his head self consciously.

"Oh really?" A new voice asked. "It's nothing that my student gets into a life and death situation? I thought we had had this conversation once Tsukune. It would seem that further discipline must be forced into that too caring head of yours."

Tsukune looked over to the door. Standing there with a slightly ripped and very bloodstained school uniform was Naruto, a wide grin painted on his face.

"Naruto-san!" He'd barely called out his name in greeting before the blonde had seemingly teleported to his bedside.

"Cretin! I can't be away for a few days without you getting yourself into trouble? I come back from having just survived a mission to crush evil with my awesome powers, wanting nothing more than to shower, change my clothes and eat some ramen, only to be told that the beautiful Moka has once again had to suffer through my useless minion's suicidal attempts at being a hero."

"But Naruto- ouch!"

"Silence! I will not- just a moment Moka-san, if you please- I will not be thwarted in my mission to… Moka-san?"

"Hi Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

"Oh, just fine Moka-san, ahaha. Never better."

"Oh good. Tsukune, remove my Rosario please."

"Huh? Why?"

"The other Moka wants to ask Naruto-kun here something." Moka's reply was as sweet as ever, blatantly ignoring the sudden lack of blood in Naruto's now white face.

"Err, can't we-"

"Of course Moka-san!" With a slightly evil grin, Tsukune grabbed Moka's accessory and pulled it from its holder. A few seconds later, the young girl that had seated herself next to him had markedly filled out and looked to have aged maybe two or three years.

"Thank you Tsukune-kun. And thank you for saving us; it took a lot of guts to stick your hand into that mass of snakes." The apparition of deathly beauty smiled gratefully at him and stood up, before turning towards the suddenly very apprehensive blonde next to her, the smile evaporating and being replaced by an impressive frown. "As for you, there are several questions I want to ask you, starting with the exact nature of this 'mission', or rather why you seem to think that you can risk _my_ supply of blood, come back looking like you do and smelling of at least a half dozen different girls."

"Now, now Moka-san, there's a perfectly good explanation for all this." Naruto stopped talking and waving his hands about when the silvery haired vampire held up a hand.

"Of course there is, and you will give it to me after I punish you for striking my savior. Tsukune did the best in an impossible situation and I will not have you upsetting my other self because of it. Are we clear?"

"Crystal!" Naruto responded, nodding furiously. Then Moka grabbed his shoulders and he froze.

"Good." With that, she sank her fangs into his throat, breaking the skin and letting a little blood start to ooze out before giving it a tentative lick. After a happy sigh she planted her lips over the wound and started sucking gently, emitting small moans every so often and ignoring Naruto's corresponding whimpers.

"Naruto-sama/Naruto-kun/Naru-gaki! What are you doing with that girl/Moka?"

As Moka released him with a content sigh and turned away without giving any notice to the new arrivals, Tsukune looked over at his friend. "Naruto-san, you are the only one I know who can land himself in this much trouble."

Naruto grimaced and carefully rubbed his newest wound. "Me too, and I don't even have to try."

"Moka is out! Three-some time!"

"Then again, you're not so bad yourself."

* * *

And cut! Okay, good scene, I'll be in my trailer if you need me.

Well, finally got another update out. I won't bother apologizing, as I never did promise to hold a deadline. I am doing this for fun after all.

I bet some of you recognized a few of the new characters. I was considering making up a few wardens, but figured that since I've already introduced dimension travel and so on I might as well take a short cut. And I do love those two gun totting maniacs. I'm not going to let them affect the story very much however. They have their own lives back home after all. Possibly Mana will be a bit involved as some kind of love interest in the future, but I'm not carving anything into stone here.

So, what do you think? At least one reviewer has already guessed a planned plot development, which irked me no end, but I'm resisting the temptation to change it again. I am especially curious about your thoughts on the fighting and Kurumu's private torment. The wonders of having non-human minds and desires are so much fun to play with.

Well, I'm going to enjoy the rest of the year, savour my presents and try not to swell up from all the food I've been eating. See you on the other side.

Ja ne.


	6. Talks and Thoughts

Haan: Umm.

Chidori: TALK! Where is Sousuke? Who do you work for?

Tessa: Let Mao handle him, she can do things with piano thread you wouldn't believe.

Haan: Now, ladies, honest. He'll be back before you know he's missing. *Someone pulls a Bowie knife* I promise! He's just busy earning money to buy you christmas presents!

Tessa: Oh, really?

Haan: You bet, just let me get back to writing and he'll be right on it. Would you mind letting that little troll out now?

Chidori: So he can start groping again?

Haan: No, there's a bunch of people over there that we can lure him into.

Tessa: The ones carrying pitchforks and torches?

Chidori: Who brings a flame tank to a lynching anyway?

*A Metal box is opened*

Happosai: SWEEETTTOOOO! Where are my silkie darlings?

Haan: Do a disclaimer and you'll find a whole lot over there, they're picketing for the right to go commando in public.

Happosai: Haanownsnothing,'. SWEEEEETTTTTOOOO!

Haan: Is it bad of me to enjoy doing that to him.

Tessa and Chidori: Nope!

**

* * *

**

Talks and thoughts

There had been a lengthy discussion that afternoon, as the story of what had happened at school while Naruto was away was repeated. Then Moka unveiled her double's painting, trying and failing to hide the small blush she got at Tsukune's unreserved and blissful reaction to his birthday gift. And then a certain blonde thirteen year old had to do his very first _Explanation, _a task feared by men everywhere in the same way that you fear disarming bombs while blindfolded, using your feet_. _It's the dread that accompanies a task that almost certainly will fail spectacularly, yet the option of not doing it isn't an option.

It was a horrifyingly embarrassing experience, as he tried to explain his absence to his friends (mostly Kurumu) and failed impressively. His story might have sounded more plausible if he'd been as alone coming back as he was when he left, but the two additional girls that had for some inexplicable reason followed him to the special little piece of inverted-pocket space they were currently living in complicated matters.

And had Kurumu sizzling with jealousy. She'd been miffed when she found Naruto having another moment with the 'really scary' Moka, perturbed when her shout of outrage was mimicked by two others and rather put out when they, including Moka, all seemed to give of a similar vibe of jealous irritation while trying to simultaneously keep an eye on each other and glare at Naruto. Then Naruto's long, confusing and altogether lacking explanation let her build up towards a point where, if there had been a Kurumu-anger warning system installed in the school, there would have been sirens, flashing red lights and people leaving the premises almost as quickly as at the end of a school day. Kurumu's aura was getting _dark._

The other girls had no problem at all picking up the petite succubus mood. Even Tsukune could feel a certain amount of hesitancy in trying to placate the busty seductress. And so it was that Naruto had to save himself, as no one seemed inclined to come to his rescue. Both Mana and Ruby had to fight their instinct to wince at some of the more horrendous parts of the story, as well as the instinct to give each other pointed looks. While they both had developed a certain interest in the oblivious young boy (whether they admitted it or not), neither wanted to get in the way of a girl who could apparently grow dagger-long nails at will. Meanwhile Moka seemed to take his example of how to not lie to others in stride, although one might wonder why she suddenly had to do so from the other side of Tsukune's bed. Oh, and Yukari affected not to notice, instead focusing on getting in under Tsukune's covers, a much too innocent grin on a very much too happy face.

Tsukune spent most of the time on the sidelines, offering moral support to his fellow male and trying to keep Yukari away without resorting to violence. It should, in the name of fairness, be mentioned that she was the one suggesting him tying her up. Naruto spent the same time sweating. He'd first been absorbed in verbally sidestepping his creepy temporary boss, then had spent a few blissful minutes acting as a rather insane sensei, right up till he realized there was an audience and that said audience was potentially his fourth worst nightmare come true (He'd had a lot of them, so he knew how to rank them, even when they were real). Then it became true as his treasonous student unleashed Moka's sexier inner self. And then, just as it seemed that he'd gotten away with his life once again, if slightly anemic, his number one admirer had come storming in, bringing questions. And worse, raised eyebrows.

The fact that his bondsmate decided to beg off of being present during the interro- err, conversation, did little to strengthen his resolve or arguments, but Naruto was never one to play hardball with someone important to him. Besides, he was much too busy talking himself into trouble to start arguing with his mischievous demon servant.

Kyuubi was not worried however, and enjoyed spreading chaos in the little posse of beautiful girls before slinking out of the sickroom in her 'normal' fox form. She silently hoped that her master would be forced to start sharing some of his secrets, she knew perfectly well how deep Kurumu's change of heart went, and had a pretty good understanding of just how profoundly it might change an entire race. Kurumu deserved to know a bit more about her master before their relationship went beyond chaste kisses and teasing. It wasn't like the succubus would change allegiance again after all.

"_Of course." _She thought exasperated upon spotting a familiar figure up ahead, heading towards the medical facility carrying a bouquet of flowers. "_Some never learn what no means."_

Tripping Gin with her tails straight into a group of female trolls, she rounded a corner with the sounds of righteous retribution echoing down the hall. She had no intention of letting that spineless womanizer disrupt her master's unintentional courting, and if the poor monsters that really hated the human form got a chance to vent on the pervert, well it was a plus in her book. Once at the right floor and giving a quick glance to either end of the corridor to make certain it was empty, she transformed into her human shape and knocked on the imposing entrance to the headmaster's offices.

The voice that gave permission to enter was a familiar one. She opened one of the double doors and entered the outer office, strode through it briskly and entered the inner sanctum, ignoring the theatrics of the second door pair opening by themselves.

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite substitute teacher. How are you this wonderful day, Kyuubi-sensei?" The Headmaster, or Mikogami Tenmei as the small sign on his desk proclaimed, was his usual creepy self, slightly too wide, sardonic smile and eyes that could go all the way from weakly glowing orbs to two baleful rays. They were currently in his normal, I-am-setting-you-up-for-immense-pain-and-you-are-too-scared-to-ask-why twinkle, easily confused with the normal twinkle of caring and slightly daft grandparents. The difference would only become obvious after a few brushes with death, angst or group homework assignments.

"Oh, I am very well, Headmaster. I am afraid that my master is not, however, which is why I would speak to you." She kept her tone light and neutral, hoping to bait the powerful monster a bit.

"Oh? Is something amiss?"

"Master was deeply affected by his last assignment, and as he is not the kind of person to whine and complain about his own hurts, I am going to have to do it for him."

"Hm, I can understand that you as his bondsmate would be less than pleased with any… issues your master may suffer from this. However, I gather that you better than most understand that in his chosen path such insights and experiences are unavoidable. Therefore, I gather that there is a deeper problem here. Something that I must say I can't quite grasp. Tell me, Kyuubi-sensei, is there a problem with my sight?"

"If your eyes can not perceive what lies before them, I would say so. Has the years dulled your gaze, Headmaster? Or has reading all those dusty tomes finally turned you blind? You should be able to recognize who your better is after all." Kyuubi's words seem to spark something in the perpetually grinning man.

"I hope you know what you are doing, there has ever only been one person to address me as you do now without blood being spilled." His voice came from suddenly gritted teeth, no matter that the smile stayed, and the challenge and threat was obvious.

"Very good, I am glad that the ways of old have not been completely forgotten. However, I do know exactly what I am doing. Rise and approach so that you may greet me." The reply was accompanied by Kyuubi raising her left hand slightly, palm out. She had a gleam in her eyes as well, challenging the male monster right back. Her speech, however, indicated something formal, formal and old.

The Headmaster was on his feet by the time she finished, his grin disappearing into parts unknown and all traces of sarcastic mirth gone without a trace. He approached the bonded daemon and knelt before her, then took her proffered hand and touched his forehead to it. As contact was made, there was a spark of power where her palm touched him, and he shivered slightly.

"Master." His tone had dropped all inflections of cynicism, calculated risk taking and flowery speech. Only a note of barely allowed hope could be heard.

"Stand, my disciple, and give me your affection." Her answer was, in return, filled with warmth. The one known as a Lord of Hades stood and stiffly embraced his temporary employee. When nothing happened, he sagged slightly in relief, a small smile of joy visible.

"I never thought I'd see you again." He was still smiling as he let her go.

"Well, neither did I Mikogami, we all figured that our work was done on this world. How are the others?" She asked as they parted slightly.

"Oh, you know pervert-san, he's both relieved and broken up over the fact that you turned him down. He's happily living it up with various beauties whenever he can, but I'm uncertain as to whether he ever truly got over you."

"He always was a sentimental fool." Kyuubi paused, and when she continued a touch of worry could be heard."And Akasha? What has become of my beloved and spoiled little vampire princess? Her presence has been hidden from me ever since I returned."

"Akasha… is, well, dead. But not permanently." He hastened to add the last part at her near soundless gasp.

"What do you mean?" Kyuubi's voice was alarmed, the question demanding a speedy reply. Mikogami was not fool enough to tease her.

"There was an incident involving her daughter and one of her step daughters. The oldest one. Alucard almost broke free because of it, and she sealed herself inside of him to hold him back until her daughter matured."

"Ah, let me guess. Akashiya Moka. That explains her Rosario, and why I've felt troubled whenever she appears." Kyuubi's relief was palpable, and a small sigh escaped before she had resumed control of her emotions.

"I see your mind has not dulled in that other world, despite where it has been forced to reside."

"Hm, do not disrespect _my _master, oh favored exorcist of mine. Naruto-sama carries the blood of the only one I've ever considered before or after Akasha, and is already showing signs of surpassing his lineage."

"I see. I expect you would discuss the nature of his first job then."

"Yes, but that can wait. Master survived, triumphed and has embraced his father's convictions as his own, all without either yours or mine influence. There will of course be more trouble due to his choices, but I will be there to aid him." She paused, a small measure of wonder flitting across her face. "After all my searching, it's hard to believe that my bondsmate would be a boy that I was unwillingly sealed and sworn to."

The usually controlled headmaster visibly started at her words."Are you certain master? He is still very young and unpolished."

"I know, but he has already assembled a small following of friends and lovers. They cannot stay away from the brilliance of his soul anymore than a moth can avoid the flame of a candle. And they in turn will help him heal as well, his childhood was not a happy one."

"I knew that he'd caused a few ripples, but to have his gathering start so soon…"

"Yes, Naruto-sama is much, much more remarkable than he can ever appreciate by himself. And unless I am mistaken both Tsukune-kun and Sousuke-kun may well prove to be almost on his level. It seems as if we're heading into some very interesting times here. On that note, I would ask you about one of the students. She was an avid participant in my classes and a most promising rival and mate for master, but then she disappeared."

"I expect you're referring to the school's current Mistress of Ice, Shirayuki Mizore?"

"Yes. What has happened to her?"

"Well, she never was very comfortable with crowds, and although Naruto-kun had seemed to draw her out of her shell a bit, she came to me the day after the swimming club incident and begged off her classes for a while, citing personal problems. My own policy concerning some of the more, ah, special yokai races is to let them handle their problems themselves, and the maidens of snow have always been very good at doing so."

"Hmm, that is not much to go on, she did not say anything else?"

"Only that something she'd hoped for had been taken from her, and that she needed the time to handle her own disappointment."

Kyuubi stood in thought for a bit, face scrounged in a frown and a hand supporting her chin."I may have an idea, but there are plenty of issues to handle before I can address the poor self esteem of a self centered girl. Now, tell me about the organization that can employ one of the great monster races to run a slave trade market."

"Yes, master. It is an organization I've been trying to bring out into the open for some time now called Fairy Tale."

* * *

"So, you've been off doing a favor for the Headmaster, and she's been helping you."

"Yeah."

"And when you were away, you somehow came across this other girl, who for some reason that you won't tell me has sworn herself into servitude to you."

"Yep."

"I'd prefer the term sub-"

"Quiet! And when you finally come back from doing this favor, which somehow took several days, you barely get to campus, looking like you've been tossed into a meat grinder no less, before running off to yell at Tsukune-kun and get lovey-dovey with Moka."

"Err, it wasn't planned like that, but yeah. Sorta."

"I see." Kurumu put her head in her hands and drew a deep breath. "I don't know. I've been good, I haven't even tried to molest Tsukune all week, I've been worried sick ever since you disappeared without saying _anything_, and when you get back you treat me like I'm not even here." She started, quietly, to sob. Her body seemed to gently shake in time with what sounded like desperately bit back wails, and the light in the room seemed to dim.

Naruto, of course, fell head first into her trap. "Ah, no sorry Kuru-chan! It's just been a lot to do, we had to get the civvies out safely, that werewolf kept regenerating and trying to gnaw off my head and the ramen shop closed due to supply problems!"

Kurumu looked up, no trace of tears on her face and narrowed her eyes."What's a 'civvie', why would a werewolf want to do that and where does a ramen shop enter into all this?"

Naruto winced and wished desperately to take a quick time trip so he could take back those words. "Sorry Kuru-chan, that's kinda secret. It's part of the Headmaster's favor."

"Oh really? I'm supposed to believe that you just happened to pick up a few extra girls while out buying furniture? Was it a special offer? Buy a water bed and get a sex-slave for free? I know I'm not good in school, but I'm not a total retard. And you're not saying anything squirt!" The last was aimed at Yukari, whom simply closed her mouth again before returning to gaze longingly at Tsukune and Moka now that her hobby of insulting Kurumu had been curtailed. Kurumu had a glint of something in her eye that convinced everyone nearby that getting on her bad side right now was the _wrong _answer.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I made a promise." He really couldn't help himself, and lowered his gaze, a hand at his neck. It was turning out to be a lot more difficult to keep secrets from his important people than he'd expected.

"Fine, if you won't talk, I'll have to ask someone else. Was there any other boy involved in this 'favor' of yours?" Kurumu's tone was scathing, and Naruto briefly wondered if it was possibly to skin someone using only words and tone of voice.

"Err…."

"Forget it, I obviously have to wait until I can bed you before you're going to give me the respect of a decent lie. Ladies, since Naruto is being stubborn, I'm inviting you to a sleep over this evening."

Kurumu's last statement made the whole group do a double take.

"Um, I'm kind of sworn to Naruto-sama." The self-professed servant, who had been absently playing with a gemstone, replied as a healthy blush sprang to her cheeks.

"And I'm also obliged to stay silent." That was the girl who went by the name of Mana.

"I'm going to let the other Moka handle this." The silver haired vampire replied haughtily, before collecting and returning her Rosario to its rightful place. She was most definitely _not _running away. Perish the thought!

"Can we watch adult movies and use Mo-err each other for train- mmmff!" Yukari was swiftly gagged by Kurumu.

"Yukari, I'm washing your mouth with soap if you say one more dirty thing until tomorrow. And I really don't care about any of your excuses. My Destined Mate is hiding things from me and I am not suffering through tonight alone."

"Well, if it's like that… sure."

"I'm not going home for another couple of days. Naru-gaki, why don't you and Tsukune-san find No-smiles and have your own little get together?"

"Good idea Hot-stuff, just keep the others away from the boys dorm okay?" After those words Naruto felt an impressively dark aura pop up next to him.

"Hot-stuff? You're calling her Hot-stuff?" Kurumu's gaze could have burnt through steel at this point.

"Just a nickname, doesn't mean anything!" He could feel sweat gathering on his brow. Kurumu didn't seem convinced. "Err, how about you and I go and talk in private for a second."

Kurumu let her gaze burn into him for a few seconds more, before relenting. "I hate how much I love you Naruto."

"Err… right."

He led her outside and into an empty room down the hall. Turning around after closing the door he was greeted by crossed arms and a foot that seemed to be tapping a countdown to his execution.

"Look, Kuru-chan, I'm serious okay? There's nothing between me and Mana." He pleaded with her, knowing that he'd run out of excuses but determined to try anyway.

"And why the hell should I believe you? You're lying to me Naruto, and that hurts."

"I'm sorry, but there are some things I've promised to keep secret, and I never go back on a promise. Ever!"

"And what about me? I've done anything and everything I can think of to show you how I feel about you, what you mean to me, and then you run off and do something like this? That doesn't exactly make me feel very good, you know."

"Well, can I do anything to make you feel better?"

"Ha! Like you'd really want to do that, you're always running away from me when I'm trying to tell you how I feel."

"That's because I'm not used to it! Okay? I'm an orphan that grew up pretty much without friends and certainly without a girl, and now I'm all but smothered by one. I'm scared, okay?" Naruto, getting desperate, felt his tone rise as he found himself saying things he normally wouldn't have told anyone.

"Scared?"

"Yeah, sorry to rain on your parade, but every time I think that someone might actually l-lo-that, rather than just accept me as a friend or something, I get terrified. I'm not used to people caring about me."

"Naruto…" At this point Kurumu felt that she had to do something, like jumping him for example, but decided against her first instinctive reaction. "Do you want a hug?"

Naruto blinked in response."You're asking me?"

"Yeah. I'm asking. I really want to just jump you, but I won't if it makes you scared."

"Oh, well in that case I think it's fine." He stepped closer to her, their gazes locked. "If you're actually restraining yourself to ask first, I should feel safe enough to accept, right?"

"Yeah, although that sounds really wrong." Another few steps closer."I just want you to want me."

Now, they were inches apart."I think I do, Kuru-chan. It's just hard." His eyes, always open and honest with the feelings they contained, held hers as she spread her arms in invitation and he accepted.

After a few seconds of holding each other, getting used to body contact that wasn't the result of a carefully planned ambush or 'accident', Naruto had an idea. "Kuru-chan, you like to touch me right?"

"Yeah, I guess. I like being close to people that matter to me, and you more than anyone else."

"Well, would you like me to touch you?"

Kurumu felt like her face might spontaneously combust at his offer, and had to fight down an urge to squeal and punch him in the face. _"Wait a minute, why the hell would I want to do that to Naruto-kun? He just offered to-"_

"YES! Please Naruto-kun, touch me! Anywhere, I don't care. Just show me that you love me too!"

"Err, you sure?"

"Naruto, either you start feeling me up right now or I'm going to rape you on top of the teacher's desk."

Swallowing heavily and wondering just what kind of demon he had unwittingly unleashed, Naruto placed a hand on Kurumu's cheek. She stilled at that, eyes closing, and he slowly let his hand slide down her face before letting his finger tips trace her throat, making her face turn an interesting shade of red and teasing a soft mewl from between her lips. He could see how quickly her heart was beating from her jugular and marveled at the sense of power he got from her response. As his hand continued downwards, caressing her collar bone through her clothes, he leaned in and let his lips brush against hers.

"You like this?"

"…Don't stop. Please." Her voice was a whisper, pleading with him. Even he could hear how badly she wanted this.

His reply was to kiss her again, more intensely than previously, as he let his hand travel downwards.

* * *

Shirayuki Mizore was confused.

She'd just finished reading the school newspaper for the third time, and the contents had her walking around in a daze.

First there had been the writing of that Tsukune guy. He was a talented boy apparently, phrasing himself elegantly and shamelessly using logic and common decency to appeal to the readers. In a school for monsters, that was the same as bringing holy water and silver to a fight. It was Just Not Done! She'd seen several kids break down in tears after reading the editor's column.

Then there was the subject matter. Do not judge others unless you know all there is to know. Hm.

She was pretty sure she knew what the piece was referring to, the rumors following the fight in the pool area had reached her through the usual spying on the local gossip traders, and although she'd felt cheated when Naruto let Moka satisfy herself on him like that, even she had been surprised at the way the rumors portrayed him. She was pretty sure he hadn't tied the whole swimming club up and forced himself on them after all. Besides, from what she'd seen before it would have been the other way around.

The newspaper had contained an article about the event, giving a widely differing account of what had happened, although the details had been carefully doctored to actually give very little information away except for the fact that Naruto had been defending the other students, not attacking them. She'd already heard a few girls gossiping about the article, although she hadn't heard their conclusions. Hopefully there would be a little bit less fear around him from now on.

Letting her legs take her wherever they wanted, she continued thinking about what Tsukune had written. Could she be accused of making the same mistake? She'd been very upset with the whole pool incident, and thinking back she couldn't help but wonder if there was something she was missing, or perhaps had misinterpreted. Naruto had been shaking while Moka licked and sucked up his blood, but had it really been from pleasure? Just because Moka had had something resembling an orgasm didn't mean that Naruto liked it.

As a small seed of hope started to bloom within her, she looked absently over to the entrance of the school hospital, and almost dropped her lollipop.

_He _was just leaving, school uniform worn and dirty. Tsukune was with him, and a few steps behind she could see five girls, two which she'd never seen before. The two groups stopped just outside the entrance and exchanged a few words, before the boys waved goodbye to the girls and headed off towards the male dorms, while the girls turned towards the main building.

She was about to follow Naruto, but he actually turned his head in her direction, as if looking for something. Given that he seemed able to notice her, and how hard it could be following someone on the path to the dorms, she started following the girls instead. When she overheard their discussions about a slumber party, snacks shopping and finding Kyuubi-sensei, she realized that she needed to pick up her camera again. While she wouldn't trade them to the resident perv-corp, a few embarrassing photos could always prove useful for blackmail. Or excitement.

Following the girls, she listened in on their conversation. It was well after normal school hours and they were speaking quite freely. After listening to their comments on the two boys, her confusion was growing. What on earth was going on between those people? First Moka and Tsukune liked each other, then even-sexier-Moka was literally necking Naruto, while Kurumu kept pushing Tsukune into her cleavage, before suddenly starting to chase Naruto? And Yukari kept trying to get Moka and Tsukune into a bed together, preferably with her in it? And who were the other two girls, one of whom called Naruto 'Naru-gaki', while the other referred to him as 'Naruto-sama'?

She'd heard about triangle relationships before, but this seemed more like one of those harem manga she'd read occasionally. Only there were two boys involved that were apparently both liked by various girls. Weird. Mizore had done her best to understand how people outside the Snow Maiden enclave maintained their relationships, studying both magazines and manga that seemed to have a lot of information on the subject. And although there were a lot of new and interesting information to be gained from there, some things didn't seem to apply. The concept of yaoi, for example. She'd gotten an awfully strange, _warm_, feeling in the pit of her stomach when picturing Naruto and Tsukune in the gym changing rooms together, but once she found a way to peek at them, there was a disappointing lack of pretty boys fondling and kissing other pretty boys. Very puzzling since some of the reference literature she'd gotten was almost exclusively about such situations.

She'd stayed and watched anyway, of course, but except for some things to dream and fantasize about, she hadn't really seen much. Except that both apparently worked out regularly. Naruto came off as a surprisingly underdeveloped boy, lacking body hair _everywhere_, while Tsukune obviously had gotten well into puberty, but was less well trained. She had quickly decided that either boy (or both) would be acceptable candidates for her to fulfill her obligations to her race, even though the blonde still was ahead on points.

Those two boys seemed to be good friends, as far as she could tell, but that was apparently it. Bit weird in a way, seeing as Tsukune was quite possibly the most polite, soft spoken and inoffensive monster she'd ever met, while Naruto was loud, brash and arguably the most talked about student on campus. He'd apparently almost made the honors grade on the last tests and always stood out during P.E. while somehow retaining a reputation as a "bad boy". His blond hair always drew looks, while Tsukune had managed to land himself in the dead center of his year test wise, tended to get stuck with helping the teachers with pretty much anything resembling chores and could disappear in a crowd of one.

She really didn't understand that friendship at all, they should barely acknowledge the other person's existence. To her it seemed obvious that there was something else that bound them together than the normal things friends had in common. Disappointingly nothing related to sex, but you couldn't have everything.

She had managed to conjure up a few theories, and hoped there would be an opportunity soon to see whether she was right or not about them. Maybe they kept themselves to themselves back at the dorms?

While the group of girls headed out from the cafeteria with their supplies for the night, Mizore took a short cut through the woods. She'd heard Moka ask if they could all fit into Kurumu's room, and since she lived on the same floor as the unusually happy succubus there was no point in following them anymore. Now it was time to get her camera, check on where her mark had gone and get productive. It seemed plausible that the boys would hang out for a while as well, and if they didn't, well, she never felt an hour spent staring at Naruto through a camera's lens was wasted.

Humming happily and blushing softly at the possibilities of boys alone in a room with a bed, Mizore headed back to her room.

* * *

Opening the door to his room, Naruto looked at the flutter of white briefly before picking it up and going inside. Normally he didn't bother with security measures, as he usually had at least one clone reading one school book or another while he was at class, or studying a scroll. However, leaving a clone around while away on a mission wasn't a good idea, and so he'd used a couple of classical tricks that very few people would be able to bypass or even know to look for. He couldn't trap his door or window with anything damaging, but he could setup signs so he'd know if someone had been inside.

Looking at the floor below the window and finding it spotless, he closed the door and relaxed. Sagara and Tsukune had been introduced, and since No-Smiles had changed into some fresh civilian clothes they'd wait for him in one of the common rooms. Meanwhile Naruto hadn't had a chance to shower yet, and could barely wait to get out of his ruined school uniform. After stripping down to his boxers he took out a replacement he'd brought with him, before wrapping a large towel around him and heading for the showers.

The Headmaster had actually had three extra sets waiting for him when they got back to the base, lying outside a locker with his name on it along with a small Konoha mark on the door. These were apparently a custom made kind with special reinforcements, several extra hidden pockets, and even the folds needed to put in select pieces of body armor. In the locker there was a new pair of dress shoes, a pair of boots, shoes for running in, an exercise outfit as well as more 'business' like outfits, one with a dark camo pattern and one in solid dark colors, comprised of everything from underwear and up. A note informed him that all tools he'd want and knew how to use could be checked out when needed, as long as they stayed in the underground base.

There was even an armored vest to stop frags. Whatever a frags was. He'd have to remember to ask later.

Mana and Sagara found lockers of their own as well, although they also got a soft kind of hat, which Mana said were called berets. They were both black, which in this case simply meant special ops. There were no markings anywhere on what his teammates called uniforms. For some reason he figured that it mattered, but the why eluded him.

The other two had stayed behind with the civilians, taking turns showering and changing into a school uniform set. He had had the doubtful honor of reporting on the mission to the Headmaster. There would be a full team debriefing the next day, but the bare essentials could be covered by him alone. As Sagara had joked "The only reason we tagged along was that you don't know how cross the street. You would have gotten yourself run over by a car and died if Mana wasn't there to babysit you."

And also, as Mana had put it, he'd taken command. He'd gathered intelligence, constructed a plan of action and directed the others in its execution. And Sagara, being a lot more military than not, added one of those loveable little truths concerning martial life. "If you have the luxury of deciding how your side is going to act and react, you're also entitled to the pleasure of explaining yourself. Have fun."

So, reported he had. Sneaking through the school to avoid the end-of-school rush was not easy, but fun and quite safe, as just like Tsukune he barely even registered energy wise.

Reporting to his boss, or whatever he should call the weirdo with the glow-in-the-dark eyes, was pretty much like reporting to Tsunade, except he didn't pound Naruto with fists but with words. Twisting, probing and darkly humorous words. After a few minutes of talking Naruto very much felt like he would be lucky to make it out alive.

"So, you sent in a pair of disguised clones into the store to scout and make more clones because they were, what was the phrase? Oh yes, 'super-packed with chakra'. Without conferring with your teammates I might add. Funny, I seem to remember someone saying that those clones could burst from a paper cut. Most perplexing. Then you pushed the team into striking sooner than planned, severely increasing the chance of an organized response since the opposition hadn't gotten drunk and worn themselves out "celebrating", split your team and refused to use deadly force, even against the werewolf." Here the Headmaster paused, somehow stretching his smile even further.

"And you decided to capture said werewolf because, and I quote, 'He wasn't in any moon light, so he was like a B class monster at most, right? No biggie!'. Now I know I wanted prisoners, and the order included seeing to the liberation of any slaves, but where in this rather exhaustive mission briefing folder do I find the part where you're supposed to bring said rescued slaves back to your hotel suite? Or the part where you are supposed to threaten to shove an empty bowl of ramen up someone's posterior unless they arrange a transport for everyone back to the school? I am all ears."

Yeah, who said getting knocked into a wall by a disguised old woman with crazy strength was tough? That bastard kept asking things like "And who will pay for their food?" and Naruto had to use every trick he'd ever learnt just to, as it felt, keep the man from hanging him from the school's highest building for the crows to feast on. Or throwing him into a scorpion pit. Naruto wasn't sure if there was such a thing on campus, but suspected that it could be arranged.

Of course, that he somehow managed to persuade, intimidate and barter his way through the whole thing, without selling his first born, was something he had totally forgotten the second he'd heard about Tsukune lying in the hospital. That any human would be willing to stay at a school for monsters without a large supply of silver, holy water and possibly an army should have tipped him off at the start, but he'd missed it. No use crying over spilled caltrops, he just had to face the facts. His student in the mystical ways of chakra was a suicidal idiot. He should know after all. He'd spent most of his shinobi career acting the same way.

The fact that Naruto acted like as if he'd almost just died from worry and then died again with relief could be explained by pretty much the same reasons. The possibility of finding another confidant at the school was laughably unlikely. Apart from finding another human, the only ones he could trust to any degree would be the girls. And as nice as they were, he wanted another guy to hang with, relaxed and unguarded. And although Tsukune could seem pretty wimpy, the fact that the guy stuck around without any reliable allies, powers or weapons, just to stay near a girl who wanted to be his friend (and suck his blood) pointed at a guy with a solid pair of brass balls. Naruto could respect a guy like that.

Stepping into an empty shower stall, Naruto absent-mindedly started to wash away the last remains of the mission. He was still confused about just how he felt about Kurumu. How she felt was obvious, and her obvious anger and hurt at being left out of the loop only served to enforce how serious she was. He was just not sure whether he could or should return those feelings. He was, despite everything, on a mission. Once it was finished, he would return to Konoha and normal shinobi operations. It was doubtful whether Tsunade would allow him to bring over a bunch of friends, or even a girlfriend. Never mind how he was going to explain Ruby. The idea of telling his baachan that a girl almost five years older than him had sworn herself into a kind of slavery to him sent shivers of dread down his spine. He sort of doubted that she'd be any less strong when he returned home, nor any less punishing of any perceived perverted behavior.

Ruby was likely to bring such punishment down on him the first time she said anything. The girl had a way of making the most innocent of sentences turn into something so full of innuendo that even ero-sennin would have been impressed.

Naruto frowned thoughtfully. He hadn't had time to reflect on her behavior, but now he started wondering if she really was as naïve as all that. Even he had been able to catch some of those accidental invitations, and he knew that it was only because the time spent around Kurumu and Yukari had sped up his learning on that front. Of course, if she was being serious about it…

Shaking his head vigorously to get that dangerous train of thought derailed, he relaxed a bit, letting the caress of almost painfully hot water fill his mind. Then, head still blissfully empty, he turned it off and started to towel himself dry, before heading back to his room. He felt like he was walking on clouds, free of worry and stress.

He had just entered the corridor to his room when he felt something weird in the pit of his stomach. It spread rapidly upwards, heading straight through his torso and up his neck. His breath suddenly seemed heavy and strained, his heart beating rapidly and filling his head with an incessant drumming. The corridor seemed to tilt even as his sight seemed to go out of focus and narrow, as if he was looking through a tube or a tunnel.

Even as the floor rose to greet him, he could hear his name being shouted.

* * *

"-then he stopped and asked me if I liked it, before he…"

Tatsumiya Mana tried not to stare at the unusual scene before her. That Kurumu wanted to tell her mother about the latest development in her ongoing campaign to find her Destined Mate wasn't so hard to understand, nor was the excited babbling of a teenage girl in love. The part where she was speaking into an enchanted mirror instead of using a phone was, however, unusual enough to make her feel slightly off center.

The detailed, candid and utterly unembarrassed description of an event that she herself felt was intensely private didn't help. Mana was no stranger to the unusual, but until now her interactions with the races that dwelled in the shadows of humanity had been limited to fighting or of such a nature that there was little of normality attached anyway. Here, however, she was put smack dab in the middle of what could be considered an everyday performance by a creature which had some distinctly different views on what was private and what was not.

She was so thrown by the strange behavior that she didn't even reflect on the small feeling of relief she felt when Kurumu, in a slightly disappointed tone of voice, described how Naruto had caressed her back instead of her front.

Focusing on the view through the window, she blocked out the excited succubus and tried to enjoy the efforts of the pink haired vampire girl, who was brushing her hair. Although she could, and had at times, forgone such luxuries as the newly discovered friend was now administrating on her, Mana was no tom boy. She knew she looked good, almost offensively so for a fifteen and a bit year old, and was quietly proud of herself and her looks. Pairing that with the stress she'd recently been forced to handle and it was easy to allow herself some impromptu spa time. Although her business psyche had handled the mission as efficiently as could be asked, there had been a few emotional traces to handle, and a bit of normal girly time was exactly what she needed.

As her body continued to unwind, in small fractions, she let her gaze wander over to the one other girl that had somehow managed to become part of their sudden sleepover. Ruby, as she called herself, seemed to fit in as if she'd always been part of the group. Mana was slightly envious of the older girl. Just over a day ago she'd been locked into a dungeon, facing an unknown future decided by cruel and uncaring people. Now, there was no obvious sign what so ever that such a traumatic event had occurred. This fact was part of the reason for her being there as well. While the other freed slaves were being cared for by the Headmaster's impressive resources, this girl had somehow differentiated herself. The lack of a proper debriefing, however, meant that Mana needed to stay on hand in case Ruby finally reacted. It was plausible that she was still in a delayed shock, and was therefore a walking bomb. A bomb whose fuse was lit and of an unknown length.

She claimed that she had done what she needed to by talking to Naruto, but neither he nor Mana were convinced that was all the help that Ruby required. At the same time they weren't trained to handle psychological trauma, and had decided to let her be for the day, as she claimed her servitude demanded a certain nearness to her newly minted master. They'd talk to the Headmaster about it and let him conjure up a solution.

"_Just like home." _She mused, wondering at how easily the eerie man leading Yokai Academy could give off the same vibes of comfort that her own headmaster did, despite their very different personalities. _"At least Konoe-sama is human. I have no idea what species that _man _is."_

Her musings were interrupted when the woman bonded to Naruto walked in. Her presence and focus was such that Mana almost missed the girl trailing in her wake, a pale, purple haired beauty with equally pale blue eyes. She was diverted from any further study when Kyuubi-'sensei' walked up to her.

"Ruby, Mana, I need to have a word with you."

* * *

Kurumu had just finished talking to her mother when Kyuubi walked in, taking the open door of the small apartment as an invitation. However, instead of the usual, slightly superior yet friendly greeting, the temporary teacher walked straight over to the two 'new' girls and said something in a low voice. The two girls immediately got up and follow the woman out of the room. She'd barely exchanged bemused glances with Moka before their red headed elder returned, looking serious and slightly preoccupied.

"Everyone, this is Shirayuki Mizore." She began, pointing to a girl with purple hair, a laid-back if attractive dressing style and blue, almost pupil less eyes, whom had somehow avoided notice until then. Kurumu felt her gaze stick to those eyes, seeing them partially shift from ice blue to a light purple as she moved her head. There seemed to be no emotion in them at first glance. If eyes could be pools, it was as if they had frozen over. "I found her with Naruto at the hospital, apparently he collapsed outside his room."

At Kyuubi-sensei's words, Kurumu's head whipped around, strange eyes forgotten. Before she could start the tirade of worried questions that were all clamoring to go first, she held up a hand and continued talking. Kurumu noticed that the woman was not just serious, but also something else, frustrated maybe?

"It would appear that the strain over the last couple of days, possibly combined with the silver haired Moka having a snack, was more than Naruto could handle right now. I've spoken to the doctors and he's been moved back to his room. He'll be fine by tomorrow morning, he just needs some rest. I'll head over there to watch over him in a bit and make sure he gets an uninterrupted night of sleep."

Kurumu fought shock and an urge to rush over and start knocking on doors to find out where Naruto's room was. The many, quickly shifting emotions pulled at her, and she found that she was unable to speak. Her worry had mostly been assuaged right away, but this was her one and only Destined Mate. Then another part of what Naruto's supposed friend said caught her attention.

"Shirayuki-san, why were you with Naruto?" She tried to keep her voice calm and polite, she really did, but the storm of emotions and questions made that difficult.

"Hmm." The girl replied evenly, staring at Kurumu without any real reaction showing. "I was passing by the boys' dorm when Tsukune and some other boy came out carrying Naruto with them. I was curious, and when Tsukune explained that they found Naruto passed out on the floor outside his room I decided to tag along." Kurumu was blissfully unaware that Mizore had enjoyed watching Naruto dressed only in a towel the whole way. "After a few minutes at the hospital Kyuubi-sensei showed up. She asked the boys to take Naruto back, since he was just tired more than anything else, and wanted me to come with her here, although I'm not sure why."

"Yes, well, I figured that if Kurumu here decided to run off and try to take care of Naruto you could help me hold her down. I also think you and Kurumu should get to know each other."

The two girls stared at their teacher, wondering at her answer. This time, Kurumu finally got to speak first.

"Why, exactly, should Shirayuki-san and me get to know each other Kyuubi-sensei? And why do you think I shouldn't be near Naruto right now?" She wasn't being overtly hostile yet, as Naruto and Kyuubi apparently knew each other well, but Kurumu's already lacking supply of patience was running dangerously low.

"Well, partly because you both know Naruto, and I know he'd like his friends to get along. "She replied, evading the fact that they also shared a common interest." As for you leaving Naruto alone I would like to point out that your habit of jumping the bones of people you like a lot is not what Naruto needs right now. His exhaustion is mostly emotional and as good as you might become with your mental abilities once you've trained them, Ruby is an experienced witch and taught in certain healing magics, including mind transference. I'll expect you to cheer Naruto up later, but right now he needs the company of people who know why he's currently in a mental limbo and convince him to come back."

"Limbo?" Kurumu replied weakly, latching on to the part that she could contest without sounding silly. Saying that she enjoyed getting physical with people she knew was like saying that Tsukune was a tad reserved, or that Moka could be a bit single minded about blood. And since she hadn't started practicing her mind travelling powers yet there would be little good she could safely do if Naruto's mind really was so overwhelmed that he'd lost contact with reality.

"Yes, limbo. The effects were delayed, which is why I didn't notice it. His mind was just waiting for a sense of security before shutting down."

Kurumu knew about limbo, or coma as humans called it. It was a special mental restoration state that the mind could go into if it felt overwhelmed as a last recourse. Human minds, lacking certain powers, could only do so by instinct and with no assurance of ever coming back or when such an awakening could occur. Among monsters it was simply a way to accelerate healing and deal with psychological trauma, or even boredom among the races that lived exceedingly long, and used by psychics and mediums to utilize some of their more advanced techniques.

She also knew that the ability to enter a mind in limbo took a lot of skill and power. To be able to guide the mind back demanded even more of that, as well as an emotional attachment of a magnitude that at least meant a blood relation.

"She loves him?"

Kyuubi gave the frazzled succubus a forthright look. "Is that something for you to be bothered by, Kurumu? You've claimed him as your Destined Mate, but since you've neglected to activate the bond and have foregone setting the Rules, I was under the impression that at least you had an understanding of the unfairness inherent in your bonding."

Kurumu started blushing fiercely.

"You know our ways, Kyuubi-sensei? You can't speak of them like that; it is forbidden knowledge for outsiders!"

"Hmm? Afraid I'll tell your mother that her cute little daughter can't get her thirteen year old Destined Mate to do the nasty with her?"

"He's too young!"

"Damn straight he is, there's barely enough hormones in him to call it puberty. I'm sure he'll have grown plenty before his birthday, but you'd better not get your hopes up."

"What about his birthday?" The voice that delivered the question was as cool as the ice-blue of her ice. Kurumu turned to her new acquaintance, Mizore, to tell her that it's none of her damn business, but Kyuubi replies before she has a chance.

"It is the day that I will allow any girl to ask Naruto to mate with her. Normally I'd not let anyone near someone so young for another few years, but due to some special circumstances I'll make an exception for him. However, if he doesn't feel ready or I think he needs more time, then the mating will be postponed" Kyuubi said this with a straight face, letting none of her thoughts show on her face.

"The way you say that it sounds like he's not spoken for." Mizore's statement was also an obvious question, which Kyuubi once again answered.

"He is free to choose as many mates as he wants. Of course, getting close enough to get him to trust you would take some serious effort." The reply managed to sidetrack Kurumu once again.

"Because he's an orphan?" She was completely unprepared for the fiery gaze that met hers.

"Where did you hear that?" Kyuubi's hackles were raised, and those red eyes suddenly seemed filled with liquid heat and aggression.

"He told me, why, is it a bad thing?"

"Maybe the part where you just toss out sensitive information is just a tad less than perfect, yes."

"Oh. But we're all friends here, right?"

"Maybe, then again, you just met Mizore here, and you never know who might be listening."

Kurumu contemplated trying to argue, but the gleam in Kyuubi-sensei's eyes hadn't abated much. Trying to deflect attention from her blunder she asked another question.

"What was that you said about Naruto and mates?"

"Well, aren't you just full of questions Kurumu-chan. The fact of the matter is, because of Naruto's rather unique background he'll be having as many or as few mates as he likes. He might actually choose to marry one day as well, but that isn't all that common where he comes from."

"Where is that?"

"If you want to know, ask him, I've told you plenty already. As for you two fighting each other, think again. I _know _that Naruto won't accept being treated like a prize to be fought over. Get along or get out of the way." Having delivered her message as blatantly as possible, she decided to address another problem. "Now, Mizore-san, I'd like to hear about you Snow Women. What's this I've heard about your population problems?"

* * *

In a completely different dimensional pocket, a powerful blizzard was making its way across the landscape, like it did with impressive regularity to facilitate patrolling, travel and picnic days. It howled through forests. It whipped snow into a frenzy out on open fields. And it was very helpful in freeze drying the day's laundry in the village of Snow Women that the pocket had been created for. While a few of the inhabitants bulked down inside the various buildings with various hot drinks, several females were moving about their community, seemingly without noticing the current weather.

Of course, as it was a village mainly inhabitated by Snow Women most didn't care about the climate, as long as it was at least close to arctic. A much more conscious, if oft avoided issue was their problem with procreation. It would seem strange to most that a race consisting of beautiful women, dedicated to caring for their families and passionate in their own way would have such problems. However, no other race had such a low life expectancy, nor such a short fertility span. Most Snow Women were barren before turning twenty five, and seldom lived past fifty.

The most blatant exception was currently tapping her nails on her desk. The Snow Priestess had lived for a long time already, and did not expect her replacement to be born for many years to come. She should know. She was a Seeress, and those that can see into the future (more or less) usually had a pretty good idea if they were about to die.

Of course, usually didn't give a rat's ass about unknown entities moving in and fucking up the fate strands right royally. Three young girls who were supposed to share two boys that she'd arranged for had been forced to find other means of getting pregnant, as the shipment, which she'd been certain would go off without a hitch, had been called off. Apparently someone not from this world had decided that slavery, no matter how necessary, was wrong. Normally she would agree, but the search for fertile males, whom could possibly turn their ever worsening trends in longevity and fertility was a difficult one. The boys had been specifically collected from a different world, and a ritual performed right after the crossing had allowed her to put their possible actions into the strands of effect. There was always a certain amount of chaos, allowing for a different outcome than the one she'd foreseen, but seldom did the results differ this much.

This was why she was now waiting for her 'guest' to arrive. She knew that Fairy Tale was a dangerous organization, but the need to breed new life into her race was too important. They had after all offered to let some of her 'daughters' bear the off spring of some of the more prominent races, and had even hinted that a vampire might be added to the mix if the negotiations went well enough.

Even as she tried to push her excitement down again, she felt the strands sway, informing her that the devils had arrived. It would be costly, and the girls involved would most likely end up as servants once their fertile period was over, but she would do anything necessary to secure her race's future.

* * *

A/N: CUT! Awesome, thanks everyone, get the set ready for our next scene.

And there you have it, I finally finished of another chapter. Slightly shorther than I would have liked, but hey, I needed to end it somewhere. Hopefully it doesn't suck, after going over it again and again...

Lots of talk, little action, although I hope that several interesting facts/clues are now obvious. Kyuubi has apparently been here before, so why didn't the Headmaster recognize her?

Enough note, I'll see ya when I update, whenever tha'll be. Take care.

Ja ne!


End file.
